Bristol Airport has been named as the world’s most punctual in research based on 43.5m flights from 4,000 destinations across the globe. It has also just had its busiest-ever year with 6.3m passengers passing through the terminal.
Bristol’s on-time performance rating of 94.6% placed it top of a prestigious international league table for small airports – those handling fewer than 10m passengers a year.
But with the best-performing airports in the medium and large league tables failing to match Bristol’s rating, the airport landed the coveted title of world’s best.
The accolade came ahead of the airport announcing that it handled a record 6.3m passengers last year, surpassing the previous annual record set in 2008.
This represents a 3.45% increase year on year, and a fifth consecutive year of growth for the airport, the South West’s largest.
The punctuality tables are based on analysis by OAG, the leading global aviation intelligence firm. The report covers the 2014 calendar year and is based on the proportion of flights arriving and departing within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. 
Bristol Airport CEO Robert Sinclair, pictured, left, with OAG executive vice-president John Grant, was delighted with the airport’s table-topping status, which he said was down to the way its staff work together.
“This achievement is a joint effort and is testament to the collaborative approach taken by airlines, ground handlers and our own team,” he said.
“It demonstrates the advantages offered by regional airports such as Bristol, where airlines operate in uncongested airspace with greater flexibility and resilience in the event of any disruption.
“It also shows the clear benefits of our continued investment in infrastructure over the last decade or more, from the installation of a CATIII all-weather landing system to the construction of new boarding facilities such as the central walkway which opened last summer.”
Brussels South Charleroi was second in the small airport table with a performance of 93.1%. Berlin Schönefeld came third with 92.3%. The only other UK airports in the top 20 were London Luton, ranked 10th with 89.3%, and Birmingham, 19th with 87.4%. The average of the top 20 was 89.8%.
Osaka in Japan topped the medium airports category – those handling between 10m and 20m scheduled passengers a year – with on-time performance of 93.2%. Moscow Sheremetyevo and Copenhagen were joint second with 89.8%. No UK airports were in the top 20.
The most punctual large airport – handling more than 20m scheduled passsengers a year – was Munich with a rating of 89%. Again no UK airports were among the top 20.
Bristol Airport’s record year for passenger numbers included its busiest day ever – August 14 – when 25,390 people arrived or departed during 24 hours.
Growth in 2014 came without an increase in the number of commercial flights at the airport due to larger aircraft being used on a number of established services, including KLM’s four-times daily service to Amsterdam.
Further growth is forecast this year with a raft of new destinations recently announced
Mr Sinclair added: “Airports are useful barometers for the economy of the region they serve, so growth of passenger numbers at Bristol Airport is good news for the South West.”
