Three of India’s low-cost carriers, IndiGo, AirAsia India, and Spicejet feature in the OAG’s Punctuality League 2018 as India’s most punctual airlines. Chennai, Hyderabad, and New Delhi airports also feature in the annual report of airlines and airports with the best on-time performance (OTP) in the world.

India’s most punctual airlines

Only three Indian carriers, all of them LCCs, feature in the top performers list. IndiGo is ranked fourth in the ‘Mega’ airlines category, and ninth among all airlines in the Asia-Pacific geography. Mega airlines are the Top 20 airlines of the world measured by number of flights dispatched. AirAsia India and SpiceJet join IndiGo in the global ‘Top 20 LCC’ category.

Rank    Airline             OTP                 Flights covered

9          IndiGo             81.22%                        97.1%

17        AirAsia India   74.85%                        92.0%

20        Spicejet           73.72%                        90.2%

While not published, if measured on an overall basis, IndiGo will be ranked 26th globally.

Airline quotes

Bangalore Aviation reached out to the three airlines for their reactions on achieving this feat.

Aditya Ghosh, President, IndiGo said, “On-Time performance is one of our core promises to our customers and it is also one of the three things that IndiGo stands for. We are delighted that we have secured a spot amongst the Top 5 mega airlines globally in terms of On Time Performance in the OAG Punctuality League 2018.”

Amar Abrol, MD & CEO, AirAsia India said “We are extremely glad to be ranked in the top 20 most punctual LCC list by OAG and we believe it is a result of continued efforts of our teams and guests. We have undertaken some robust initiatives to ensure we are on top in terms of OTP, viz. smart bay planning for efficient and hassle-free clearance during departure, engaging with our guests and providing them with timely updates and announcements, making use of technology driven check in facility, wherever available. Most importantly, we always aim for base departures at D-10, which provides us with healthy buffer to be on time, each day”

India’s most punctual airports

Like the airlines, only three airports in India feature in the Punctuality League 2018.

The Indian airport with the best on-time performance in 2017 is, Chennai. It is ranked a joint 11th along with Washington Dulles airport in the large airports category (10 – 20 million departing passengers per annum). Chennai had 81.79% of all its flights, departures and arrivals operate on-time. It is an amazing performance given that the Airports Authority of India, a government department, operates the airport.

The other two airports are operated by private consortiums led by GMR. Hyderabad airport was ranked 17th, five ranks below Chennai with an overall OTP of 80.46%. New Delhi airport with an OTP of 70.05% was ranked 18th in the Mega airports category (over 30 million departing passengers per annum).

                                                                                                                                               Written by – Evita Lopes