The most punctual airline in the world is one you've probably never heard of

• airBaltic has been named the most punctual airline in the world.
• The research was carried out by the Official Aviation Guide (OAG).
• Three budget airlines ranked in the top 10, proving you don't have to splash out for quality service.

There are many ways that a delayed flight can ruin your day. It could make you miss a connecting flight, miss your ride to the hotel or home, or simply eat into your holiday time.

That's why airlines are in a constant battle to diminish their average delay time across their flights in order to increase customer satisfaction.

The Official Aviation Guide (OAG) has released is Punctuality League for 2018, which pits the world's top airlines and airports against each other in order to see which are the most time-efficient, helping passengers get to their destinations on time.

The worldwide authority on airline and airport data ranked airlines against each other based on their On-Time Performance (OTP). This refers to the percentage of flights that arrive within 14 minutes and 59 seconds of their scheduled arrival time.

AirBaltic, a Latvian airline, was named the most punctual airline in the world with an impressive 90.01% of flights arriving within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival times.

Hong Kong Airlines was the runner-up with an OTP of 88.83%, increasing from 74.46% in 2016, and rising into the Top 20 for the first time in the survey's history.

But the Top 10 isn't just comprised of high-quality and luxury airlines. Three airlines the OAG consider "Low-Cost Carriers" feature amongst the world's most punctual airlines.

Vueling Airlines, a Spanish budget airline, Jetstar Asia, based in Singapore, and Skymark Airlines, a budget airline based in Tokyo, all feature in the Top 10 - proving that you don't have to splash some cash for quality service.

In order to qualify for the survey, an airline must place in OAG's top 250 airlines ranked by annual Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs). This is a unit used in aviation data which measures an airline's passenger carrying capacity. It's determined by the number of seats available on the flight multiplied by the number of kilometres flown.

Here are the 10 most punctual airlines in the world, along with the percentage of flights for each that arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time:

1. airBaltic - 90.01%
2. Hong Kong Airlines - 88.83%
3. Hawaiian Airlines - 87.24%
4. Copa Airlines - 86.39%
5. Qantas Airways - 86.18%
6. Japan Airlines - 85.27%
7. Vueling Airlines - 85.25%
8. Jetstar Asia - 85.08%
9. Skymark Airlines - 85%
10. Aer Lingus - 84.46%

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