Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has won the unflattering distinction of being the fifth LEAST PUNCTUAL airport in the world. The Mumbai airport stands at the 509th rank out of the 513 airports across the world, The Indian Express reported.
These are the findings from a report by British aviation intelligence firm OAG, which surveyed 513 airports and 65 airlines across the world.
As per the report, the Mumbai airport recorded only 60 percent on-time performance of over 3.2 lakh flights operated in June 2017. The Delhi airport came in at 451 rank, reporting on-time performance only 70.7 percent of the time.
Bengaluru airport ranks 262nd on the list, Chennai 255th, and the Hyderabad 246th, all well above the Mumbai airport.
Port Blair was the highest ranked Indian airport on the list, clocking in a 84.6 percent on-time performance rate, as per the report in The Indian Express.
Air India Lowest Ranking Indian Airline; IndiGo Highest
Further, Air India is the lowest ranking Indian airline on the list, ranked at 64 out of 65 airlines, with just 58.4 percent of its 1.7 lakh flights being on time. China’s Shenzhen Airlines came in last with a slightly lower on-time performance rate of 56.1 percent.
IndiGo Airlines is placed highest among Indian airlines on the list, at rank 14; 82 percent of IndiGo’s 3.6 lakh flights were recorded to be on time during the period, which is nearly 26 percent ahead of Air India.
Other Indian airlines on the list include SpiceJet, ranking 45th out of 65 airlines, and Jet Airways at rank 54.
Number one on the global list is Nagoya airport in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture, topping the list of 513 airports with an on-time performance rate of 94.5 percent.
This is the first time that Indian airports have found their way in the list, The Indian Express reported. The OAG’s 2016 ranking of airports had no Indian airports on the list.
What is ‘On-Time Performance’?
The OAG’s definition of ‘on-time performance’ of airlines is arrivals that take place within fifteen minutes of the scheduled arrival time, including cancellations. For airports, the report tallied the arrivals and departures that took place within 15 minutes of the scheduled times, including cancellations.
The DGCA blamed late arrival of incoming flights for the delays, followed by “air traffic control and airport-related delays” for the low rankings, The Indian Express reported.
Minister of Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, told the daily that India’s ground-level infrastructure for airports needs to improve to keep up with the increase in fleet and passengers, if it hopes to achieve sustainable growth.
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