Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national carrier, has been ranked first among major airlines from the Middle East and Africa for on-time-punctuality at the 5th Annual Airline On-time Performance Service Awards.

Statistics released by FlightStats Data, an independent provider of flight information services, showed that Gulf Air registered an average on-time punctuality of 92 per cent for the arrival and departure of its flights within 15 minutes of schedule in 2013, said a statement.

Gulf Air Acting Chief Executive Officer Maher Salman Al Musallam said:  “We are delighted to be recognised as a global leader in on-time-punctuality and ranked as the region’s most punctual airline for 2013. Despite implementing an aggressive restructuring strategy last year, our focus remained set on improving all aspects of our product and service including our on-time-punctuality, a critical element for the majority of travelers. Gulf Air’s achievement is a testament to the hard work of the entire Gulf Air team to deliver on our promise to get passengers to their destinations in a timely manner.”

FlightStats has been monitoring airlines’ on-time performance since 2004, tracking over 150,000 flights per day, i.e. nearly 80pc of all scheduled passenger flights globally.

FlightStats has published the On-time Performance Service (OPS) Awards for the last five years in an effort to recognise the “Best of the Best” Airlines for punctual travel. – TradeArabia News Service