SOUTHAMPTON airport’s largest commercial airline has outperformed many of its rivals by increasing its air travel punctuality.

During 2014 Flybe curbed the trend among other airlines by increasing the number of scheduled flights that arrived on time.

It defied an industry-wide fall to 79% from the previous year with an 82% of its a sample of nearly 98,000 flights turning up at their destinations within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time.

The statistics feature in the recently published Civil Aviation Authority’s 2014 On-Time Performance Report that analyses airline performance at 10 UK airports.

It puts the operator 3% above the industry average and exceeding that of other airlines such as British Airways (77%), Easyjet (78%) and Ryanair (79%).

Paul Simmons, Flybe’s chief commercial officer, said: “Such official and independent recognition for our punctuality performance is always extremely welcome.

“Having established such a good record for departing and arriving within the accepted 15-minute window is naturally one of the main considerations for people when deciding to which airline they will take their business.”

In December last year, Flybe was also named as the UK’s most punctual airline in a report issued by the influential consumer watchdog Which?.