Kenya Airways (KQ) has secured the position of Africa’s second most efficient airline based on on-time performance (OTP). The analysis, conducted by analytics firm Cirium, reveals that KQ achieved timely arrivals for over 70 percent of its 41,905 flights in 2023. This accomplishment surpasses Ethiopian Airlines, a longstanding leader in the region.
“The high rankings result from KQ’s persistent focus and delivery of on-time performance each month of the year, which has been a cornerstone of improving our guest experience strategy,” KQ Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka said.
Cirium’s On-time Performance (OTP) analysis indicates that KQ’s on-time arrivals exceeded 30,000 flights, resulting in a performance rate of 71.86 percent. Following closely is the South Africa-based privately-owned low-cost carrier Safair, which achieved on-time completion for 92.36 percent of its flights. In the broader Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, KQ secured the tenth position in punctuality, with Oman Air emerging as the top performer with on-time arrivals in 92.53 percent of all flights.
”On-time flight’ is defined as a flight that arrives within fifteen (15) minutes of the scheduled gate arrival time. For an airport, it is defined as departing within 15 minutes of its scheduled departure” said Kenya airways, in a press release addressing the the milestone.
Jeremy Bowen, the CEO of Cirium, emphasized that the data is meticulously collected from over 600 sources, providing industry stakeholders with an impartial, third-party perspective on the operational performance of airlines.
