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Karl Schembri
Air Malta was among the least punctual European airlines in the first four months of 2004 but it was also one of the best at having its passengers’ luggage reach its destination, according to the Association of European Airlines (AEA).
With 77 per cent of its arrivals and departures on time, the Maltese airline ranked third from last among Europe’s major airlines surveyed in the AEA’s quarterly consumer report as regards departures on time. Delays in arrivals put the airline sixth from last among the 28 surveyed carriers.
Finland’s Finnair was the most on-time airline, with 90 per cent of its flights departing and arriving on time, closely followed by Spain’s Spanair, Scandinavia’s SAS and Luxembourg’s Luxair.
At the opposite end of the list, TAP Air Portugal, Czech Airlines and Air Malta qualified as the least punctual.
Saving some face, however, Air Malta was one of the airlines to least lose its passengers’ luggage. For every 1,000 passengers, Air Malta lost an average of nearly six bags, ranking as the third best airline for baggage handling.
First came Italy’s Meridiana Airlines, followed by Turkish airlines. Austrian Airlines came in last, losing 19 bags for every 1,000 passengers. Germany’s Lufthansa was second-to-last with almost 17 lost bags for every 1,000 passengers.
Sources from the aviation industry say punctuality and luggage handling depend on several factors beyond the control of airlines. Air Malta manages only 50 per cent of its ground handling activities given that it depends on foreign ground handlers abroad.
The luggage of point-to-point passengers fared better than that of people connecting at large hub airports, AEA said. It also cited mountains of luggage and short transfer times for high loss rates, especially at big airports.
Departures and arrivals are also very much dependent on weather conditions and are regularly disrupted thanks to strike actions at foreign airports.
On average, 85 per cent of the missing luggage is traced and delivered to passengers within 48 hours, according to the AEA report.
The AEA said delays for the major European airlines worsened somewhat in the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period in 2003.
Overall, 21.9 per cent of flights within Europe were delayed on departure by more than 15 minutes, compared with 20.1 per cent in 2003 and 19.7 per cent in 2002.
The deterioration was most marked in March, when the delay rate of 19.3 per cent was five percentage points worse than on March last year.
In the AEA’s survey of 27 major European airports, Istanbul was the worst affected by delays, with 33.5 per cent of departures more than 15 minutes late.
Vienna, Zurich, Paris (Charles de Gaulle) and Munich followed Istanbul as the worst affected airports in terms of delays.
London-Gatwick reported the lowest delay rates, at 10.9 per cent of departures, followed by Oslo, Brussels, Copenhagen and Larnaca.
Top 5 Euro airlines at handling your luggage:
1. Meridiana (Italy)
2. Turkish Airlines
3. Air Malta
4. Malev Hungarian Airlines
5. Spanair
Worst 5 Euro airlines at handling your luggage:
1. Austrian
2. Deutsche Lufthansa
3. British Airways
4. BMI (British Midland)
5. Royal Dutch Airlines
karl@newsworksltd.com
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