After being delayed at an airport for 5 hours recently, it made me wonder, what are the post delayed and most punctual airports in the world.

All data used to build the list below is from Flightstats 2008 data.com site which keeps note of all arrivals and departure times from every airport around the world.

Most delayed departures airports

1. Beijing Capital International, Beijing, China - percentage of on-time departures: 47.86%
2. Manchester Airport, Manchester, UK - percentage of on-time departures: 49.11%
3. Venice Marco Polo Airport, Venice, Italy - percentage of on-time departures: 53.59%
4. Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, Nice, France - percentage of on-time departures: 56.31%
5. Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino, Rome, Italy - percentage of on-time departures; 57.83%

So currently, it doesn’t look very good for Italy, having two of it’s airports in the most delayed list.

Most punctual airports

1. Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan - punctual percentage: 90.0%

Being the worlds fourth largest airport in the world and handling mainly domestic flights, Haneda holds the record for on-time departures at 93.3%, it's on-time arrivals were 87% in 2007, giving it a total score of 90.0%

2. New Tokyo International Airport, Narita, Japan - punctual percentage: 84.2%

This airport is the Haneda’s sister airport and was built to manage most of the international flights in and out of Japan. It has an on-time arrivals score of 82% and an on-time departures rate of 86% giving it an overall grade of 84.2%

3. Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei - punctual percentage: 80.3%

Taipei’s airport opened it’s second terminal in 2000 allowing it to handle 22 million customers in 2006. Taoyuan has an on-time departure rate of 82% and an on-time arrivals rate of 78% giving it a total of 80.3% Leaving it very close to the fourth position, Sydney's airport.

4. Kingsford Smith International Airport, Sydney, Austrailia - punctual percentage: 80.1%

Handling over 30 million passengers in 2006, the Kingsford Smith airport is the biggest and oldest airport in all of Australia, and this was where I had my 5 hour delay. It's on-time departure rates are very similar to it's on-time arrivals score. With a on-time departure rate of 79.3% and an on-time rate of 81% giving it an overall total of 80.1%, making it almost tied with the Taoyuan airport.

5. Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong - punctual percentage: 79.7%

This airport is the busiest in Asia and was voted airport of the year in 2007 by UK company Skytrax. It has on-time departures of 81.1% and an on-time arrival rate of 79.3%, giving it a total grade of 79.7%

It looks like Tokyo airports take the crown for most punctual airports, seeing as they pinched the top 2 spots, but overall, it looks like if you want a delay free holiday, you will have to visit Asia.

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Old files have recently been released by the MoD about possible UFO sightings that took place in the past, one of the files released contains information about a UFO sighting outside of Stansted Airport.

Stansted Airport recieved 7 calls from the public after they spotted a strange object in the sky on June 30th 1990 around 2.40am.

One person that saw the object was a member of the RAF and his uncle while they were fishing, why they were fishing at 2.40am is unknown to me, but he described the object as having “an oblong front, lit up with searchlights, flat around the back with two red lights to the rear”, he also said that it had “no engine noise” even though he said that it could have been no more than 200 yards from him.

When the man was questioned by the police about what he saw, he said it was “just sitting there over the top of me, no noise. It sat about 10 minutes, the lights went out and then it disappeared.”, also, “It didn’t shoot off - it just disappeared”.

The member of the RAF was one of the seven who called the airport that night, and he called to see if anything strange had happened, he was informed that he had been the 7th person to phone the airport that night about the possible sighting.

The report about the sighting was handed to the Civil Aviation Authority at Gatwick Airport, but no further action was taken.

This is just one of the files released by the MoD containing information about possible UFO sightings between 1986 and 1992. However, the chairman of British UFO Research Association, Robert Rosamond, has said that he doesn’t believe that any of the files released actually contain any sitings, he said that every one of them could be explained: “Some are everyday like aircraft, military or civilian, or astronomical phenomena like shooting stars,”.

So, are we alone in the universe? or is it just a military aircraft.

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Using an online travel agency at youryellowurl.com can save you big bucks on your next vacation!

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Cats Sing 'Luton Airport'

Ryanair has boldly predicted that the recession will lead to just four European airlines surviving. Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has said that as many as five to six European airlines could go bankrupt between now and Christmas.

He went on to predict that only British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France and Ryanair would survive. He said that Europe needed a recession to rid the industry of loss-making airlines.

The deepening recession is encouraging lots of Britons to stay at home and take their holidays in the UK. Bookings for UK breaks are higher than they were in 2008 as the price of overseas holidays continues to skyrocket.

One UK airport that appears to be bucking the falling passenger figures trend is Luton. The popular airport attracted a record 10.2 million passengers during 2008 which is 2.5% up on 2007.

Thirteen new flights were launched from Luton airport during 2008 taking people to popular destinations in France, Italy, Poland and Romania. The airport was the forerunner in launching low cost flights to the Ukraine. Luton airport marketing director Natalie Raper said that ‘The figures show a continuing trend for travellers to choose London Luton Airport in the highly competitive South East UK market.’

For this year, 2009, Luton airport have already announced more new flights to Lvov in the Ukraine, Prague and Jersey. The airport’s continued focus on low cost flights should enable it to continue to out perform its London rivals. The most popular destinations during 2007 included Edinburgh, Malaga, Glasgow, Warsaw and Belfast.

Originally, London Luton Airport was officially opened on 16th July 1938 as ‘Luton Municipal Airport’. It was and still is owned by Luton Borough Council. It employs over 500 people directly and another 8,000 indirectly. The airport provides all the facilities that today’s demanding air travellers want from an airport. Luton airport parking facilities are particularly good with no less than five operators providing secure on-airport and off-airport parking.