Punctuality improves at UK airports

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has released figures showing that punctuality at ten of the busiest airports in the UK improved in the final quarter of 2008.

Some 77 per cent of flights operated within 15 minutes of their scheduled time between October and December last year, an improvement of eight per cent on the same period in 2007.

Heathrow Airport improved its scheduled punctuality by 13 per cent in the quarter and average delays at the London hub were reduced by seven minutes to 14 minutes.

London City Airport and Gatwick Airport managed to increase their on-time performance by 16 per cent and nine per cent respectively at the end of last year, contributing to an overall improvement of ten per cent across London.

Edinburgh Airport posted the best figures of all in the survey period, with a scheduled punctuality rate of 83 per cent.

Domestic flights to Cardiff were found to have the highest rate of punctuality (88 per cent) from UK airports, while services to Shannon had the shortest average delay of seven minutes.

The CAA recently revealed that, between 2000 and 2007, the number of people flying to and from the UK to visit friends and relatives increased by more than three quarters.

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