TAP had ‘worst punctuality record in the world’ in 2018

TAP had the worst punctuality record in the world last year with almost half of its flights arriving behind schedule.

According to data provided to Bloomberg by OAG, an aviation consulting firm, last year, 43.4% of TAP flights arrived at their destination with a delay of more than 15 minutes.

Asked by Bloomberg for a comment, the company blamed, “major structural constraints” at Lisbon airport.

In order to cope with these problems, TAP guaranteed that it was cooperating with the airport operator, ANA, to obtain further investment.

In addition to sorting out Lisbon airport, TAP said that it is strengthening its fleet with three additional aircraft, increasing the number of pilots and cabin crews, improving boarding procedures, revising schedules and signing essential agreements with unions.

According to the company, these measures already are leading to improvements in punctuality and have resulted in fewer cancellations.

In the late arrival rankings for 2018, Cebu Pacific (Philippines) was close behind TAP Portuguese with a delay percentage of 41.6. Pakistan International was in third place with 40.6%.

The only European airlines in the ranking, apart from TAP, are the British arm of Norwegian Air, and Czech Airlines.

TAP’s President said that the planned new airport at Montijo “is too small,” lamenting that delays at Lisbon airport has cost the airline €100 million.

In addition to TAP customer complaints, the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies also has been critical of the airline, “Our biggest problem at the moment is TAP’s performance. That’s what worries us because it’s the bad performance of TAP that we have to manage every day with our customers.”