Air New Zealand Boeing 787 taking off from Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali. danielou_shots / Shutterstock.comAir New Zealand has achieved a notable increase in its punctuality, with 87.3% of its flights arriving within 15 minutes of the scheduled time in September. This improvement places the airline third in the Asia Pacific region according to Cirium's rankings. The airline's on-time performance rose from 85.3% in August and 75.5% in September of the previous year, surpassing the global average of 77.7%.
The airline operated 13,072 flights in September, with regional services achieving a 90.3% on-time performance. Cancellations also decreased to 1.4%, down from 2.5% in August. Chief Operations Officer Kate Boyer attributed this success to a focus on small operational improvements. "Our airport and cabin teams make that possible by working together to get each flight ready to depart on time," she stated.
A key initiative contributing to this improvement was the trial of pre-staging general boarding. This process, tested on international flights from Auckland and domestic services from Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, reduced boarding delays significantly. Following successful trials, pre-staging became standard practice from 1 October.
Boyer emphasised the importance of these efforts, noting, "Every minute matters when a delay to one flight can have a knock-on effect across the network." As the airline prepares for the busy summer period, maintaining this focus on punctuality remains a priority.
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