You are more likely to reach your desired destination on time by flying from John Lennon Airport, according to figures from the Civil Aviation Authority.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport topped the chart with 93% of flights operating on time – classified as flights arriving or departing early or up to 15 minutes late – in the second quarter, beating the average figure of 81% from the top 10 most popular UK airports.
Head of PR at John Lennon Airport, Robin Tudor, told JMU Journalism: “It’s because we have spent a lot of time understanding what the airlines want.” He added that the airport has teams of people dedicated to looking at the flight schedule and making sure each aircraft is manned from the minute the captain shuts off the engine in order to ensure a quick turnaround.
In 2012 JLA handled just under 4.5million passengers, accounting for around 2% of the UK’s airport traffic. John Lennon’s rival North West airport, Manchester, handles around 22million passengers each year. However, its punctuality figures are considerably lower than Liverpool’s, falling in line with the UK top 10 average of 81%.
Mr Tudor admitted that the airport has remained static recently with regard to introducing new routes, but puts this down to the recession, he said: “We are always looking to grow and expand.”
One of the main airlines operating at John Lennon Airport is Easyjet, which boasts an 89% on time figure for the period of July 15 – September 15 this year, with one of its most reliable routes being Liverpool to Belfast.