Ben Gurion Boasts Much Improved On-Time Performance

Ben Gurion airport was much improved in terms of on-time performance in December, the last month for which statistics were compiled, according to Flightstats, considered the international authority for compiling data on airline on-time performance. Israel’s main international airport came in 147th worldwide in terms of the number of flights that left on time, with 78.5 percent of flights leaving on time. Of the 21.46-percent flights that were delayed more than 15 minutes, the average wait until a flight left was 45 minutes.

That was a great improvement over November, when Ben Gurion was ranked in 292nd place, with a 77.19-percent on-time record, as well as over October, when the airport was in 298th place, with only 75 percent of flights leaving on time. Ben Gurion’s worst performance in 2017 was in August, when it was ranked 309th in the world for on-time performance, with only 64.9 percent of flights sticking to schedule.

El Al also showed improvement in December, with some 80 percent of flights leaving on time – not as good as in November, when 85.91 percent of flights left on time, but much better than in April, when the airline could barely get 60 percent of flights in the air on time.

In the December poll, the top carriers were Iberia Airlines, with an 88.97-percent on-time record, and Japan Airlines, with an 86.09-percent on-time record. In third place was Japan’s All Nippon Airways, which had an 84.51-percent on-time record.