I fly in and out of Beijing about 10 times a year. I can count the number of times my flight left (over the last few years) on time on one hand.
I've had MUCH better luck arriving on time.
Cheers,
Another Dubious Distinction
Another year and another list of stats about our fair city … This time it’s about airport on-time rankings, and the source is Yahoo Travel, which in conjunction with Forbes.com asked everyone’s favorite flight status site Flightstats.com to rank the world’s worst airports when it comes to arrival and departure times.
Unfortunately, Beijing Capital Airport takes the top spot when it comes to “Departure Times,” with a purported on-time departure rate of just 47.86 percent. The article also states: “Of Beijing's late departures, 45 percent were delayed by 30 minutes or more, according to a sampling of the airport's flights.”
Believable as the stats may be, it does beg the question if the list has taken into account the new T3 terminal, which last year in time for the Olympics (and is, for all practical purposes, it’s own individual airport), or was the list just based on flights to and from the original terminal?
I’ve found my handful of experiences flying in and out of the new terminal to be relatively smooth, and press reports about the new T3 terminal have been generally favorable; but it seems likely that given the combined on-time record of all terminals, the finding holds weight.
You can find additional commentary on Beijing’s airport here and here.
Links and Sources
Forbes.com (via Yahoo Travel): The World’s Most Delayed Airports
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