PAL still most punctual airline in Asia-Pacific region
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) retained its position as the most punctual carrier in the Asia-Pacific region for the fourth straight month in November.
In the latest Cirium on-time performance monthly report, PAL scored 84.67 percent on the punctual arrival of its flights in November. This, amid disruptions caused by major typhoons and the recent global Airbus recall for A320 and A321 aircraft.
Cirium’s on-time performance analysis monitors whether flights arrive at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time. This serves as an indicator for airlines’ compliance with assigned airport slot times and for passengers’ timely arrival at their destination.
In November, PAL completed 96.31 percent of 9,739 flights.
The month of November started with airlines in the country welcoming the Undas peak travel period.
But also in November, the Philippines was hit by two major typhoons, “Tino” (international name: Kalmaegi) and “Uwan” (international name: Fung-wong), causing several flight cancellations in the first and second weeks of November.
PAL, being one of the operators of Airbus A320s affected by the global recall, has reported 20 canceled flights, particularly in late November.
The carrier saw its highest rate at 90.47 percent in September and then dropped to 86.37 percent in October. The decline was seen while PAL maintained its position as the most punctual airline in the region. It outperformed the regional average of 79.81 percent.
Korean Air ranked second with a score of 83.72 percent. Korean low-cost carrier Jeju Air placed third in on-time arrivals with 83.25 percent.
