British Airways announces better punctuality performance

British Airways has recorded its best global punctuality performance for seven years as Terminal 5 continues to improve customer service levels. Almost 87 per cent of shorthaul flights across the British Airways network departed on time in November.

British Airways' operations out of London Gatwick were the best ever on record for any significantly sized carrier with 94 per cent of all flights departing on time in November.

The latest record performance builds on a strong operation throughout the summer and autumn as Terminal 5 has built up to full operations.

Punctuality has improved every month for the past six months, with November seeing a 12 percentage point rise on what was achieved in June.

November was the first month of full capacity operations in Terminal 5 and more than 13 million customers have now used its facilities on more than 95,000 flights.

By having more than 90 per cent of its Heathrow operations in one terminal, British Airways has also been able to improve its baggage performance.

The number of bags delayed per 1000 customers in November was reduced to 12. This is down from a peak of 38 delayed bags per 1000 customers in summer 2007.

The big majority of delayed bags continue to be transfer bags, which are not delivered on time by other carriers from other terminals at Heathrow in time to meet their onward flights.

Andy Lord, British Airways' operations director, said: "Our punctuality and baggage performance continues to improve every month and our customers are really noticing the difference.

"Terminal 5, after eight months of use, is already delivering levels of performance well in advance of what was expected and well in advance of other major airports or terminals so early in their life.

"The improvements have come despite continued runway and air traffic capacity issues at Heathrow and this is the biggest cause of delays we face.

"Customer feedback is consistently really good and we have never had such positive feedback from our monthly customer surveys."