Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, has topped the Middle East region rankings for timekeeping with an on-time-punctuality (OTP) of above 90 per cent for its flight arrival times last month, a report said.

Statistics released by FlightStats Data revealed that Gulf Air is the first ranked full-service carrier for the third month in a row for OTP, according to the report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

Gulf Air has also maintained the second position, globally, for OTP.

"It is a great achievement for Gulf Air to be one of only two international airlines delivering over 90 per cent of their flights on time," Gulf Air acting chief executive Maher Salman Al Musallam said.

"In an International Air Transport Association passenger survey conducted in 2011, punctuality was highlighted as an important focus area by our passengers and since then we have worked hard to improve this.

"It is rewarding to see our efforts paying off especially since punctuality is a key performance indicator in our restructuring strategy, launched three months ago. We recognise the value of time to our passengers and the importance of being able to deliver a consistently high level of punctuality.

"We look forward to maintaining this excellent record and continuing to operate flights as scheduled, providing our customers with the highest levels of service," he added.

Gulf Air maintained its number one position among the Middle East full service airlines throughout last year and was ranked among the top ten global airlines for consistently maintaining best flight punctuality last year.

"Of course, these accomplishments would not have been possible without the close synergies developed between the aviation entities that support Gulf Air's operations, both at home and abroad," Al Musallam said.

FlightStats has been monitoring airlines' on-time performance since 2004, tracking more than 150,000 flights per day, which is nearly 80 per cent of all scheduled passenger flights globally. – TradeArabia News Service