Etihad improves punctuality, records best times ever

Etihad Airways said this week that it had posted its “best operational on-time performance results” since 2009. OTP is used in the aviation industry to calculate how punctual an airline is, taking in to account actual flight arrival and departure times within 15 minutes of the published schedule, while factoring in a variety of external factors including weather disruption and airspace congestion. In 2017, the airline recorded network punctuality of 82% for flight departures and 86% for arrivals — results that place Etihad Airways as one of the most reliable airlines in the world that year. OTP for departures at the airline’s Abu Dhabi hub was 79 per cent, and 89 per cent for arrivals. Overall, Etihad Airways say that it improved its network departure punctuality in 2017 by three percentage points over the previous year. Richard Hill, Etihad’s COO said in a separate statement: “We are pleased to have recorded these strong on-time performance figures for 2017, which illustrate that Etihad Airways is an airline that — following safety — prioritises punctuality for its guests.” “Furthermore, the number of passengers carried annually increased from the previous year, with more than 18.6m air travellers flying with Etihad Airways in 2017,” Hill added. Etihad Airways has also been placed in the Top 20 safest airlines in the world by AirlineRatings.com, the world’s only safety and product rating website.<br/>