Honolulu Airport Quietly Crushed Big Hubs In Global Rankings
Honolulu International Airport just pulled off a surprise win. In June 2025, HNL ranked No. 7 in the world for on-time flight departures, surpassing major global hubs such as Tokyo, Cancún, and Copenhagen, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. The airport had an on-time departure rate of 86.48 percent across nearly 13,000 tracked flights. That includes interisland, mainland, and international routes flown by Hawaiian, Southwest, Alaska, and others.
Why this matters to Hawaii travelers.
Delays out of Honolulu often ripple across the islands and back to the mainland. Missed connections, late-night arrivals and departures, or overnight layovers are common issues, especially for travelers heading to the West Coast or those connecting to and from other islands. With HNL performing well in Cirium’s data, visitors may see fewer of those disruptions in the future. Cirium defines on-time departures as those within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, based on actual gate activity. Their analytics encompass data from over 2,000 sources, including ADS-B (a real-time aircraft tracking system), airline reports, and airport systems. Despite sometimes long TSA lines and ongoing renovations, Honolulu still outperformed many better-funded and far newer airports. Tokyo Haneda ranked lower than HNL in June. So did Istanbul, Cancún, and both Tokyo’s Narita and Kansai International airports, as well as Copenhagen.
Hawaii’s airlines are nowhere near the top.
Cirium’s airline rankings told a different story when it comes to airlines serving Hawaii. Alaska Airlines, now in the process of integrating Hawaiian, placed fourth among North American carriers with a 74.14 percent on-time arrival rate. Delta came in just ahead at 75.62 percent. Both operate multiple Hawaii routes. United Airlines, one of the largest carriers to the Islands, posted a 73.59 percent on-time rate in June. That put it behind Alaska and Delta, but ahead of several competitors. Southwest Airlines, which flies to all four major Hawaiian islands, ranked near the bottom. Just 70.18 percent of its flights arrived on time. That reflects the reliability challenges that have followed the carrier’s expansion to Hawaii. American Airlines, which also offers daily flights to Hawaii, had the lowest on-time rate among them at 69.69 percent. Hawaiian Airlines did not appear in Cirium’s top 10 list for North America or globally. The rankings only include airlines that meet strict data thresholds, but Hawaiian’s absence still stands out, given its longtime focus on punctuality.
Other Hawaii airports did not make the global lists.
While Honolulu earned a top 10 ranking, no other airports in Hawaii appeared on the lists for medium or small airports. Kona did appear in the full dataset but was not ranked in the top 20. Kahului, Lihue, and Hilo were also not among Cirium’s top performers in June. This suggests that operational issues may be more prevalent at smaller neighbor island airports, or it could be that data coverage and flight volume were insufficient for ranking purposes. In the past, Maui’s Kahului Airport has struggled with congestion, particularly around TSA screening and midday arrivals.
Are we seeing new reliability at HNL?
It is difficult to determine whether June’s strong showing for Honolulu is part of a long-term improvement trend or simply a data blip. Summer travel volume was running slightly softer than expected across Hawaii, which may have helped ease congestion and boost on-time scores. However, the airline numbers remain more concerning. With many carriers operating at lower reliability, even a punctual airport like HNL cannot resolve issues on its own.
What to watch next.
Cirium publishes these reports, and we monitor them monthly, so future data may indicate whether Honolulu’s performance was sustained or not. Travelers flying in July and August may still encounter heavier crowds, longer lines, and possible schedule shifts.
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