Less than 80 per cent of Air NZ flights on time - OAG study

Less than 80 per cent of Air New Zealand's flights were on time last year, according to a new study.

Less than 80 per cent of Air New Zealand's flights were on-schedule in 2016, according to a study by air travel intelligence company OAG.

The national carrier came in as the eighth most punctual airline in the Asia Pacific region with an on-time performance (OTP) of 79.2 per cent. That compares with first-placed Qantas Airways' 87.6 per cent.

Air NZ didn't make the top 20 list for the most punctual airlines in the world, which placed Qantas as fourth and Virgin Australia 14th with an OTP of 84.5 per cent.

In the low-cost carriers category, Jetstar Airways was ranked 19th globally with 73.7 per cent of its flights running on time.

The study was based on some 54 million flight records using full-year data from 2016. OAG's definition of an on-time flight is one that arrives or departs within 15 minutes of its schedule.

The most punctual airline in the world was Hawaiian Airlines with an OTP of 89.9 per cent.

Air New Zealand said in a statement it was proud to rank in the top ten airlines in Asia-Pacific for OTP and to again be the leader on this measure for domestic air services in this country.

"OTP is affected by many factors, with the most significant being environmental, so no two years are the same for an airline. Weather events like significant winter storms or high wind conditions plus natural events, such as earthquakes, have a significant impact on OTP."

The airline said further improving its OTP would continue to be a key focus for 2017.

Meanwhile, Air NZ scored second in a list of airlines with the best safety record in 2016 released on Wednesday.

Cathay Pacific retained its spot as the carrier with the best safety record, according to the study by the Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC), carried out for air industry magazine Aero International.

Air NZ was second, China's Hainan Airlines third and Qatar Airways fourth.

OAG is an air travel intelligence company based in the United Kingdom.

See the full OTP report here: