UK airline Eastern Airways was the most punctual scheduled carrier at Newcastle and Birmingham airports last year, it has been announced.

According to Civil Aviation Authority figures analysed by Flightontime.info, more than 90 per cent of the carrier's flights from Newcastle took off within 15 minutes, as did 92 per cent of its Birmingham services.

The airline also saw average delays of six minutes or less at both airports over the course of 2007.

"Punctuality is key to meeting our customers' high expectations and to be recognised again for our efforts at Newcastle and Birmingham airports is a true reflection of the tremendous endeavours of our pilots, cabin attendants and ground staff," commented Chris Holliday, chief operating officer at Eastern Airways.

The airline recently boosted its flight frequency between Manchester and Stansted airports from three to four a day between Monday and Thursday every week.

• Green scheme being launched in Dubai
• Bangkok named 'world's best city'
• Boeing Dreamliner 'on schedule' for flight tests
• Virgin Atlantic plans extra flights to Jamaica
• Austrian Airlines to launch new service
• British Airways connects to new iPhone
• Aer Arann promotes flights to Ireland
• Bmi to launch new Scandinavian flights
• US carriers improve on-time performance
• Flybe celebrates 'top regional airline' status