Bristol Airport And AirBaltic Win Global OTP Battle

OAG, the global leader in aviation intelligence, is today announcing its Punctuality League 2014 for worldwide airlines and airports.

John Grant, executive vice president, OAG says: “With more than 80 years of expertise in flight data and aggregation, OAG is best placed to provide the most reliable global flight status and on-time performance data. Our unique flight status database now holds nearly 10 years of historic data and today we capture information on around 93% of the scheduled airline operations across the globe on a daily basis. With the most comprehensive combination of flight status and schedules data, the insight OAG can provide is being used by all elements of the aviation community to better serve market needs.

“Our Punctuality League 2014 shows that, within the United Kingdom, Bristol Airport has an average on-time performance rating of 94.4%, the highest of all small, medium and large airports covered by the data. At London Heathrow punctuality was recorded at 75.5%, whilst at London Gatwick the figure was 61%, placing both airports close to the average and perhaps reflective of the operational challenges that both airports face with their respective runway capacity.

“Latvian airline airBaltic won the battle across all airlines with a rating of 94.9%, performing significantly better than the average. Many airports and airlines achieved in excess of 90% on-time performance within 15 minutes of schedule – no mean feat given the complexities and challenges faced by the aviation industry today.”

The OAG Punctuality League 2014, based on a total of 43.5 million flight records, presents on-time performance data for the following categories: Top Airports (Small; Medium; Large); Top Airlines (All; Mainline; Low-Cost Carriers, or ‘LCCs’); Airlines by Region (Asia Pacific; The Americas; Europe; Middle East & Africa).

Top Airports / Small

According to OAG, Bristol Airport (BRS) recorded the best on-time performance, with 94.4% of flights on time in 2014. Nine of the top 20 performers in the small airport category achieved 90% of flights on time, a level of performance not replicated in the other categories. Fifteen of these 20 airports are in Europe, with three in Germany (Berlin Schönefeld, Hannover and Hamburg).

Top Airports / Large

OAG’s results show that even in light of the greater operational challenges that large airports face, the leaders in this category still achieved on-time performance levels of nearly 90%. Aside from congestion due to high demand for slots, these airports are also more likely to feel the effect of disruption elsewhere, as their route networks include many more airports.

There are eight North American airports in the ‘Top 20’. Atlanta (ATL), the world’s busiest airport in 2014, makes it to number 12 with 82.4% of flights on time. Dubai (DXB) also appears in the ‘Top 20’, ranked number 14, with 82.3% of flights on time. Beijing, predicted to soon replace Atlanta as the world’s busiest airport, is the leading Chinese airport in the league but remains outside the ‘Top 20’, appearing at number 28 in terms of on-time performance.

Top Airlines / All

OAG’s report shows that only the top three carriers in this category achieve nine out of 10 flights arriving on time. Latvia’s national carrier, airBaltic, which operated some 3.9 million seats and 42,000 flights to 40 destinations from its main base in Riga, tops the League in 2014. Hawaiian Airlines, ranked number two, is one of only two US carriers in the ‘Top 20’, the other being Alaska Airlines, ranked at number 10. European carriers dominated the top airline category with 10 airlines falling within the top 20 for 2014.

Top Airlines: Mainline

airBaltic and Hawaiian Airlines are also the top performers in this category and again only three carriers achieved over 90% on-time performance. Lufthansa, the largest airline in terms of scheduled flights operated among the ‘Top 20’, ranked number 14 with 87.1% average on-time performance. Again, OAG’s report notes over half of the ‘Top 20’ mainline airlines for on-time performance are European carriers and that, with the exception of Alaska Airlines, there are no carriers based in the Americas.

Top Airlines / Low-cost carriers

Norwegian Air Shuttle is ranked first in the table with nearly nine out of 10 flights on time. Thai AirAsia came second in this category with 88.7% of flights arriving on time in 2014, a remarkable performance given a 24% increase in frequency in 2014. The best performing American LCC is Virgin America, ranked tenth, with 82.8%.

Airlines by region / Europe

Also available: Asia Pacific; The Americas; Middle East & Africa.

Given the strong on-time performance of airBaltic and Austrian Airlines, these two airlines also top the list of European carriers in 2014. Lufthansa, Europe’s largest carrier, ranks tenth, while easyJet, the second largest European LCC, ranks one better at eighth. OAG also notes the preponderance of northern European airlines, including three Scandinavian airlines, among the ‘Top 10’.

With the world’s most comprehensive and definitive schedules database of more than 900 airlines, including 113 LCCs and 4,000 airports, OAG processes more than 21 million flight status updates every month, equivalent to 715,000 each day.

OAG’s full Punctuality League 2014 report can be found here: www.oag.com/Insight/Free-Reports/punctuality-league-2014