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What are Asia-Pacific’s most punctual airlines?

11 Jan 2017 by Craig Bright
Delayed traveller

Each year, air travel intelligence company OAG publishes its Punctuality League report assessing the on-time performance (OTP) results for the world’s airlines and airports.

This year’s report – tracking the punctuality of flights across the world throughout 2016 – drew upon the largest-ever number of flights tracked in a single year. Approximately 54 million flight records using full-year data from 2016 were used in the compilation of OAG’s 2016 assessment.

What constitutes an on-time flight? According to OAG, any flight that departs or arrives within 14 minutes and 59 seconds of its scheduled time is considered on time. Cancellations are also included in the report.

With that in mind, here’s a look at OAG’s findings and the most on-time carriers from across Asia-Pacific in 2016.

Qantas new livery Airbus A330

1. Qantas

Main hubs: Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney airports
OTP in 2016: 87.56 per cent
2015 ranking: 4
OTP vs. 2015: +0.52 percentage points

Taking the number one spot this year, Qantas managed an impressive climb from fourth to first versus its 2015 ranking. Its OTP score of 87.56 per cent also saw it rank fourth among all airlines in OAG’s assessment, behind Hawaiian Airlines, Copa Airlines and KLM – itself an impressive increase from its 2015 position as 15th most punctual airline in the world.
qantas.com

2. Japan Airlines

Main hubs: Tokyo (Haneda and Narita international airports)
OTP in 2016: 86.74 per cent
2015 ranking: 1
OTP vs. 2015: -3.7 percentage points

The top Japanese airline in OAG’s 2016 report, Japan Airlines slid this year from the number one best Asia-Pacific airline spot that it had secured in 2014 and 2015. That said, the Japanese carrier remains a highly reliable airline, taking the number five spot just below Qantas when looking at all airlines globally. And according to independent aviation performance tracker Flightstats Inc, the carrier achieved an on-time arrival rate of 87.33 per cent in 2016, a figure that cemented its position as Asia-Pacific’s best major international airline in both mainland and network by Flightstats.
jal.com

Singapore Airlines A380

3. Singapore Airlines

Main hub: Singapore Changi Airport
OTP in 2016: 85.19 per cent
2015 ranking: 7
OTP vs. 2015: +0.88 percentage points

Singapore Airlines (SIA) achieved the largest OTP increase of any returning top-ten Asia-Pacific airline from 2015, improving its punctuality by 0.88 percentage points. This increase resulted in an impressive jump from seventh to third among Asia-Pacific carriers for reliable arrival and departure times – an impressive feat.
singaporeair.com

4. All Nippon Airways
Main hubs: Tokyo (Haneda and Narita International Airports)
OTP in 2016: 84.71 per cent
2015 ranking: 2
OTP vs. 2015: -4.94 percentage points

Of all the airlines to make it to the top ten list in 2016, All Nippon Airways (ANA) operated the highest number of flights – though OAG notes that, while there are other Asia-Pacific airlines that are larger, none had a high enough OTP to make it into the top ten. Overall, ANA had a capacity of 73,444,281 (arrivals) and a frequency of 359,075 (arrivals), with Singapore Airlines coming second with over 20 million less capacity and about 80,000 behind ANA in terms of frequency.
ana.co.jp

Virgin Australia VH-VPH Aircraft Takeoff

5. Virgin Australia
Main hubs: Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney airports
OTP in 2016: 84.52 per cent
2015 ranking: 3
OTP vs. 2015: -4.04 percentage points

The second Australian carrier to make the top ten Asia-Pacific airlines list, Virgin Australia slid slightly in the rankings this year, dropping from three to five. While the carrier had a lower capacity and frequency than its fellow Australian carrier, Qantas, the airline’s 84.52 per cent OTP makes it among the most reliable for on-time departures and arrivals, achieving the number 14 rank among the top 20 airlines globally by OTP.
virginaustralia.com

6. Fiji Airways

Main hub: Nadi International Airport
OTP in 2016: 81.77 per cent
2015 ranking: N/A
OTP vs. 2015: N/A

One of 2016’s newcomers to the top-ten list, Fiji Airways soared into the rankings to enter at number six in Asia-Pacific. While its OTP of 81.77 per cent is only marginally lower than 2015 newcomers Jet Airways (81.98 per cent) and Skymark Airlines (81.94 per cent), the Fijian carrier’s debut on the top ten list has seen it exceed the number nine and ten positions achieved by last year’s newcomers. Of the ten most punctual airlines of 2016, Fiji Airways operated the lowest capacity (1,922,663 arrivals) and had the lowest frequency (20,492 arrivals) of flights, a fact that has undoubtedly helped the airline maintain a high standard of OTP.
fijiairways.com

Air New Zealand B777-200ER _916

7. Silkair

Main hub: Singapore Changi Airport
OTP in 2016: 81.28 per cent
2015 ranking: N/A
OTP vs. 2015: N/A

The second newcomer to the top ten list this year, regional Singapore Airlines subsidiary Silkair managed an impressive OTP just 3.91 percentage points below its parent carrier. As with fellow newcomer Fiji Airways, its OTP of 81.28 per cent is lower than that of its 2015 newcomer counterparts, though its coverage is the highest among Fiji Airways, Jet Airways and Skymark Airlines.
silkair.com

8. Air New Zealand

Main hubs: Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch international airports
OTP in 2016: 79.20 per cent
2015 ranking: 5
OTP vs. 2015: -8.13 percentage points

Despite seeing the largest decrease in OTP from its 2015 performance of all top ten airlines in Asia-Pacific this year, Air New Zealand nevertheless managed to hold on to its position as one of the top ten airlines in Asia-Pacific for punctuality. That said, its 2016 OTP of 79.20 per cent did see it drop out of the top 20 airlines globally this year, having previously managed to achieve the number 18 spot in 2015.
airnewzealand.com

Skymark Airlines Airbus A330-300

9. Thai Airasia

Main hub: Don Mueang International Airport (Bangkok)
OTP in 2016: 78.60 per cent
2015 ranking: 8
OTP vs. 2015: -5.68 percentage points

While Thai Airasia did drop in the Asia-Pacific rankings by one place, the budget carrier has managed to hold on to its title as the most on-time low-cost carrier in Asia-Pacific. In 2016, Thai Airasia secured the position of ninth most-punctual low-cost airline in the world.
airasia.com

10. Skymark Airlines

Main hub: Tokyo Haneda International Airport
OTP in 2016: 78.32 per cent
2015 ranking: 10
OTP vs. 2015: -3.62 percentage points

One of two newcomers to OAG’s 2015 top ten list (the other, Jet Airways, came ninth), Skymark Airlines was also the only one of the two to retain its top-ten position in 2016 and the only top ten airline to hold on to the same rank it achieved in the previous year’s rankings. Skymark Airlines is a low-cost carrier based out of the Japanese capital’s older Haneda International Airport that flies domestically across the country, and is the third Japanese airline to break into OAG’s top ten this year.
skymark.co.jp

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