Czech Airlines Defends Its #1 Ranking in the Punctuality

Czech Airlines continues to be the most on-schedule carrier among the 26 traditional air carriers that are members of the Association of European Airlines (AEA). According to data for the first three quarters of the year, the company has once again been rated the most on-schedule carrier on European routes. During the first half of the year, Czech Airlines completed nearly 56,000 flights on its regular routes departing from Prague and airports in other countries.

"The punctuality of our flights is one of the key factors looked at by passengers. Especially for business passengers is the schedule of departure and arrival times one of the key criteria used when selecting a carrier," said Jan Janík, the airline's vice president for flight operations. The company has therefore been continuing to focus on the punctuality of its flights as one of its key operational objectives. While in 2003 Czech Airlines was ranked in roughly 20 th place on AEA's flight punctuality chart, in 2004 and 2005, the airline was able to move up to 6 th place. Last year, it moved into 2 nd position. For the first half of this year and now also for the third quarter, Czech Airlines has been Europe 's leader when it comes to being able to fly on schedule.

The airline itself has only a limited degree of control over a delay and it can speed things up by, for example, expediting the process of preparing an aircraft for its next flight after a late arrival. The most frequent causes of flight delays are the overcrowding of the European airspace and the limited capacity of passenger security screening facilities at airports. Bad weather is also a frequent cause of flight delays. Technical problems with the Czech Airlines' fleet have only a negligible overall impact on delayed flights.

The AEA Consumer Report

It has been published since the beginning of 2003 and it is the only database on service quality in the world of aviation that airlines submit their figures to on a voluntary basis.  As such it is a unique resource for passengers and an indication of the customer focus which is a feature of Europe 's major full-service carriers.

Czech Airlines – the largest national carrier in the new EU member countries, in terms of the number of passengers carried. In 2006, the Airline carried a record 5.5 million passengers. Since 2001, it has been a member of SkyTeam, one of the leading global airline alliances. Czech Airlines currently offers connections to 108 destinations in 43 countries worldwide. The fleet comprises 50 aircraft – ATR 42s/72s, Boeing 737s, and Airbus A310/A320/A321s. In the first half of 2007, Czech Airlines ranked first in on-time flight performance, among the 26 member airlines of the Association of European Airlines (AEA).

For the last four years, Czech Airlines has been selected as the “ Best Airline Based in Central/Eastern Europe - 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007”. This title is awarded annually by the Official Airline Guide (OAG) and is based on the votes of frequent business travellers.