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UK charter flights more punctual in 2003
Air 2000 was the most punctual UK charter airline last summer according to the Air Transport Users Council. ATUC chairman, Tina Tietjen said all the UK’s charter airlines performed well in 2003, and for a third year running there was a drop in the average length of delay and fewer UK charter flights arriving late. Air 2000 operated more than 18,000 flights last summer. 4.6% were more than an hour late and the average delay was 13 minutes, down from 18 minutes the previous year. The next best performing UK charter airline was Thomas Cook Airlines, then Britannia Airways and Excel Airways. Thomas Cook Airlines managing director, Glen Chipp, says the airline has improved punctuality by introducing initiatives for staff and suppliers to make sure aircraft leave on time. According to ATUC spokesman, James Fremantle, six major UK charter airlines operate over 74% of the UK’s charter flights. In addition to the four already mentioned these are Monarch Airlines and My Travel Airways. The worst performing UK airline in the ATUC table was British Airways Citiexpress, which operated 337 flights in 2003, 22% of which were over an hour late. The best performing charter carriers in Europe were two Spanish-based carriers – Air Europa and Iberworld, which topped Air 2000 for punctuality. Commenting on the results Ms Tietjen said: “Charter carriers are facing increasing competition on routes to traditional charter destinations from no-frills airlines. “We are pleased to see that this development, as well as providing UK passengers with more choice, also appears to have spurred the major UK charter carriers into tackling this competition head-on, not least on punctuality performance. This can only be good for UK holidaymakers.”
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