Fog causes fall in airline punctuality

Heavy fog in December contributed to a fall in airline punctuality during the last quarter of 2006, according to new figures.

Statistics from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) have shown that delays between December 18th and 23rd caused 50 per cent of the drop in punctuality during the quarter.

However, scheduled flight punctuality improved at Newcastle Airport during the last three months of 2006, with chartered flights also taking off on time more at Newcastle, Birmingham and Edinburgh airports.

The research uncovered which destinations tended to see better punctuality on the part of airlines, with Tenerife and Arrecife in particular showing on-time performances of more than 65 per cent and average delays of under half an hour for chartered flights.

Separate figures from the CAA recently indicated that bmi was the most punctual airline in terms of scheduled flights at UK airports last year.

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