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In the News from Panama

Copa Named Second Most Punctual Airline in World

A U.K.-based analytical firm has named Copa Airlines the second most punctual airline in the world, with an on-time-percentage of 92.01 percent.

Copa was only beaten by Garuda Indonesia, which posted a 95.01 on-time percentage (OTP), according to OAG’s Punctuality League 2020, a comprehensive ranking of the world’s largest airlines and airports for on-time performance.

Copa Airlines ranks second despite having succeeded in improving OTP to 92%, an indication of how strong the best airlines were for punctuality,” the report notes.

It’s worth noting that only two North American airlines made the Top 20 list–Hawaiian and Delta. Asia Pacific airlines hold nine of the 20 top spots.

Copa was easily the top airline in the region, with LATAM Airlines Group in second with an 86.41 OTP.

Meanwhile, Tocumen International Airport earned the top spot for punctuality among medium-sized airports with a 92.21 OTP, with Cape Town second at 84.60 percent.

“Panama City, last years’ winner of the Medium-sized airport’s category, is ranked first once again and has improved its OTP still further,” the report notes.

The report is “based on 57.7 million flight records using full-year data from 2019 to create a ranking of the best on-time performance for the world’s largest airlines and airport.” To qualify for inclusion in the report, the firm needed flight status data for at least 80 percent of all scheduled flights operated by the airline or airport. OAG’s definition of on-time performance is “flights that arrive or depart within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival/departure times.” Cancellations are included in the calculations and are counted as late flights, the firm says.