The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) Bengaluru has secured the top position as the world’s most punctual airport for the third consecutive month.

According to Cirium’s ‘The On-Time Performance Monthly Report’, on-time departure ranking measures the percentage of flights that departed within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.

Cirium’s evaluation process involves a thorough review of flight data for airports worldwide.

The airport operated by Bangalore International Airport Limited maintained an impressive on-time departure experience for passengers, with 87.51 per cent punctuality in July, 89.66 per cent in August, and 88.51 per cent in September, a BIAL statement said on Tuesday.

For the month of September also, the KIA recorded impressive on time arrivals with 79.46 per cent of planes arriving on time handling 31.91 million passengers in 2022-23.

Flights operating in 88 routes depart and arrive at Kempegowda International Airport, and it has partnered with 35 airlines, according to the reports.

Recently, KIA’s CEO Hari Marar had pitched for a second airport in Bengaluru to cater to the increasing number of flyers to and from the city.

Next decade, a total of 92 million passengers are expected to board and deboard at Bengaluru annually, which demands an additional airport, he mentioned.

“Currently, the Bengaluru airport is seeing annual footfalls of 40 million. By the year 2032-2033, we are expecting at least 92 million passengers using the airport annually, which is the structural capacity of Kempegowda International Airport. We will need an additional airport after that, and the process of land acquisition should have already started,” he mentioned.

It is to be noted that in November last year, a second terminal was launched in Kempegowda International Airport which is now handling international airlines with a few domestic airlines.

Cirium’s report has mentioned that apart from Kempegowda International Aiport, Salt Lake City International Aiport in Utah, USA, Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport and Colombia’s El Dorado International Airport are on the list of the top five punctual airports in the world.