OREANDA-NEWS. UTair Aviation has been recognized as the most punctual airline at the Tolmachevo International Airport in Novosibirsk following the results of an audit in September, 2014.

UTair occupies the top spot in the punctuality ranking among airlines at the airport according to a recent compliance audit of carriers' departure schedules at the airport.

"Airline compliance with their stated departure schedule greatly enhances the quality of ground handling for aircraft and passenger services at Tolmachevo Airport," said Tolmachevo Airport General Director Evgeny Yankilevich.

"Our first ranked position in the rating has been achieved through the competent and coordinated work of Tolmachevo Airport services and UTair teams involved in the organization of passenger transport," said UTair-Passenger Airlines President Oleg Semenov. Mr Semenov also mentioned that UTair has been regularly recognized as the most punctual carrier not only at Russian airports, but also at foreign airports. The airline was recognized as the most punctual carrier at Domodedovo Airport in Moscow in 2010, at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg in 2012 and at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2013.

UTair Aviation ranks among the top three Russian airlines. In 2013 UTair Aviation aircraft transported 9,625,295 passengers and the combined UTair Group fleet transported 10,413,803 passengers. UTair Aviation operates more than 150 fixed wing aircraft and performs flights to 110 destinations in Russia and abroad. The airline maintains its central hub at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow, from which it performs more than 100 flights daily.

Novosibirsk Tolmachevo International airport is the largest air transit hub in Russia east of the Urals on major routes between Europe and Asia. The airport has a domestic capacity of 1,800 passengers per hour and an international passenger capacity of 750 passengers per hour. The airport has two runways of I and II category according to ICAO standard. Passenger traffic exceeded 3.7 million passengers and the airport handled 29,900 tons of cargo and mail in 2013.