Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has posted its best operational on-time performance (OTP) results since 2009.

OTP is calculated on actual flight arrival and departure times within 15 minutes of the published schedule and takes into consideration a variety of external factors including weather disruption and airspace congestion.

In 2017, the airline recorded network punctuality of 82 per cent for flight departures and 86 per cent for arrivals, making it one of the most reliable airlines in the world for 2017. OTP for departures at the airline’s Abu Dhabi hub was 79 per cent, and 89 per cent for arrivals.

Overall, Etihad Airways, which has experienced considerable growth in the last decade, improved its network departure punctuality in 2017 by three percentage points over the previous year.

Etihad Airways has also been placed in the Top 20 safest airlines in the world by AirlineRatings.com, the world’s only safety and product rating website. The Top 20 airlines are part of the 409 global airlines monitored by the website.