Heathrow Airport has announced it recently had its most punctual day ever on 22 March when 94 per cent of its flights departed on time.
Further to this, 93.3 per cent of flights arrived promptly too, landing within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. Overall, March was Heathrow’s second best month on record for the punctuality of departures, with 85.1 per cent being on time, topped only by October 2009 when 85.7 per cent of departures ran to schedule.
Two days in March were affected by high winds and a runway having to be closed for a problem aircraft. Heathrow points out that it is sensitive to factors such as these, which are beyond its control because usually all its runway slots are taken up with flights so the slightest thing can disrupt operations.
Nick Cullen, Heathrow’s chief operating officer, said, “This shows that when we’re not suffering from things beyond our control, like bad weather or strikes, we can run a smooth operation and get people away on time.
“Although we still need to improve, these stats demonstrate that the commitment of Heathrow’s 77,000 staff is starting to pay off with some real improvements. Because we’ve got such a complex operation, we’re looking at how we can work more closely with ground handling companies who deal with planes on the ground and be more collaborative with the 90 airlines we’ve got here,” he added.
