Birmingham Airport is named world's most punctual

With more than 100,000 scheduled flights from Birmingham Airport last year, the most punctual route was to Dublin, boasting an on-time score of over 95 per cent.

The UK airport beat contenders from countries such as Japan, Brazil, America, Germany and Australia to claim the global crown.

On receiving the award, Birmingham Airport's chief executive, Paul Kehoe, said, "To be crowned the world's most punctual airport in 2016 is a tremendous prize, particularly in the busiest 12 months in our 77-year history.

This achievement is a result of a team effort by the 7,000 employees and 140 companies operating at the airport – from the ground handlers to bus drivers, fuellers to caterers, and cleaners to office staff.

"We have invested £350 m in the last 10 years to improve the airport infrastructure and we're currently working on a further £100m development project to improve passenger facilities even further.

"These investments have helped us achieve this award because we can offer our customers an efficient service that makes us proud to be an airport that is easy to get to and easy to get through. We work closely with our airlines and handling agents to ensure that delays, which are within our control, are kept to a minimum, and we thank all of our partners for their continued hard work to become the world's most punctual airport."

OAG's punctuality league is based on approximately 54 million flight records using full-year data from 2016.

John Grant, senior analyst at OAG, said: "The UK's airports and airlines have always been leaders in the global aviation industry, delivering exceptionally-high service levels.

"The success of Birmingham is just another example of how the UK's regional airports have created world-class facilities and networks that both connect their regional communities to the world, and provide valuable economic growth."