Powered by VariFlight incomparable aviation database, the monthly report of Airport On-time Departure Performance provides an overview of how global airports are performing in March, 2018.

Global Hubs

Itami Airport (ITM) tops the large airports chart in March with an on-time departure rate of 95.04 percent and an average delay of 13.02 minutes. In mainland China, Urumqi Diwopu International Airport (URC) ranks third in the list.

Source: VariFlight

Figure 1: World's TOP10 best airports for on-time departures (Large airports, March, 2018)

Note: Reporting airports are those whose actual departure flights are over 6000 in March, 2018.

Global Medium-sized Airports

Mohammed V International (CMN) delivers the best on time performance among all medium-sized airports worldwide with 93.61 percent punctuality and an average delay of 7.51 minutes.

Source: VariFlight

Figure 2: World's TOP10 best airports for on-time departures (Medium-sized airports, March, 2018)

Note: Reporting airports are those whose actual departure flights are between 2000 to 6000 in March, 2018.

Asia-Pacific--Major Airports

Itami Airport (ITM) ranks first of all major airports in Asia-Pacific region with an on-time departure rate of 95.04 percent. In mainland China, Urumqi Diwopu International Airport (URC) ranks third (90.72 percent).

Source: VariFlight

Figure 3: TOP20 best airports in Asia-Pacific for on-time departures (Major airports, March, 2018)

Note: Reporting airports are those whose actual departure flights are over 6000 in March, 2018.

Asia-Pacific--Medium-sized Airports

Sendai Airport (SDJ) ranks first among medium-sized airports in the Asia-Pacific region with an on-time departure rate of 92.90 percent. In mainland China, Lijiang Sanyi Airport (LJG) is recognized as twelfth with an on-time performance of 86.74 percent.

Source: VariFlight

Figure 4: TOP20 best airports in Asia-Pacific for on-time departures (Medium-sized airports, March, 2018)

Note: Reporting airports are those whose actual departure flights are between 2000 to 6000 in March, 2018.

Airports in mainland China

Airports in mainland China can be divided into three classes with a capacity of over 10 million passengers, 2 million to 10 million passengers and less than 2 million passengers respectively, in accordance with the passenger throughput published by Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), 2017.

On-time departure rate of airports with a capacity over 10 million passengers

Urumqi Diwopu (URC), Xi'an Xianyang (XIY) and Chongqing Jiangbei (CKG) are the best three airports for on-time departure performance (90.72%, 85.00% and 84.57%) among airports with a capacity of over 10 million passengers in mainland China.

Source: VariFlight

Figure 5: China's airports on-time departure performance (airports with a capacity of over 10 million passengers, March, 2018)

On-time departure rate of airports with a capacity of 2 million to 10 million passengers

Regarding airports with a capacity of 2 million to 10 million passengers, the supreme three are Hulun Buir Dongshan (HLD), Kashgar (KHG) and Xining Caojiapu (XNN), respectively with on-time departure rates of 89.02 percent, 88.18 percent and 87.63 percent.

Source: VariFlight

Figure 6: China's airports on-time departure performance (airports with a capacity of 2 million to 10 million passengers, March, 2018)

Worst-affected airports under extreme weather conditions

In March, Wuhan Tianhe International Airport suffers the most from severe weathers, a record of 17 hours in total. Hefei Xinqiao International Airport, Changchun Longjia International Airport, Harbin Taiping International Airport and Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport have also been affected for 16 hours, 16 hours, 15 hours and 13 hours respectively.

Source: VariFlight

Figure 7: China's worst-affected airports for normal flight release rate (March, 2018)

Notes for editors

Period: Mar 1- Mar 31, 2018

Flights: Commercial air passenger flights only. Cargo aircrafts, corporate jets and general aviation are excluded.

Actual departure flights: Departure flights that have actual take-off time and actual departure time in VariFlight database. Canceled flights are excluded.

Actual arrival flights: Arrival flights that have actual take-off time and actual departure time in VariFlight database. Canceled flights are excluded.

Large airports: Airports with above 6000 actual departure flights monthly.

Medium-sized airports: Airports with 2000 to 6000 actual departure flights monthly.

On-time departure flights: ATD-STD<30mins

On-time arrival flights: ATA-STA<30mins

On-time departure rate: On-time Departure Flights/Actual Departure Flights * 100%

On-time arrival rate: On-time Arrival Flights/Actual Arrival Flights * 100%

Average departure delay time: Total Departure Delay Time/ Actual Departure Flights

(Departure delay time of a single flight: ATD-STD. If a flight departs ahead of the scheduled time of departure, then the result is zero.)

Average arrival delay time: Total Arrival Delay Time/ Actual Arrival Flights

(Arrival delay time of a single flight: ATA-STA. If a flight arrives ahead of the scheduled time of arrival, then the result is zero.)

Contributed by VariFlight