When it comes to arriving to your destination on time, Japanese carriers have emerged the most reliable, taking up the top two spots on a ranking of the most punctual airlines in the world.
With an on-time performance (OTP) of 85 percent, Japan Airlines was the most punctual airline of 2017 in the category of world’s mega airlines, followed closely by rival All Nippon Airways, which likewise delivered their passengers to their destinations 84 percent of the time.
The ranking was compiled by OAG, a flight information company based in the UK.
Rounding out the top five airlines in OAG’s Punctuality League 2018 are Delta Air Lines, IndiGo (India’s fastest growing low-cost carrier) and Alaska Airlines.
Overall, the top 20 list includes seven airlines from North America, six airlines from Europe, six from Asia-Pacific, and one from Latin America.
The OAG’s definition of on-time performance is flights that arrive or depart under 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival and departure times.
Meanwhile, though it has the advantage of fewer passengers, fewer routes and less complex schedules, the world’s top performer for punctuality is airBaltic, with an on-time performance record of 90 percent.
The Latvian low-cost carrier also tops the list of top 20 mainline carriers, which is rounded out by Hong Kong Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Copa Airlines and Qantas Airways.
And the stand-out airline in the category of low-cost carrier is Spain’s Vueling Airlines, which posted a 13- percentage point improvement and OTP of 85 percent…
