OREANDA-NEWS. UTair Aviation has been recognized for a second time as the most punctual airline at the Tolmachevo International Airport in Novosibirsk following the results of an audit in October, 2014. UTair occupies the top spot in the punctuality ranking among airlines at the airport for the second month in a row.

According to UTair-Passenger Airlines President Oleg Semenov, UTair's leading position in the rating is a logical result of the coordination between Tolmachevo Airport and UTair.

“The key factor for the ranking is UTair's compliance with its departure schedule”, said Mr. Semenov. “Precise flights departure may be achieved only by effective cooperation between airline and airport, including performance excellence on the part of ground handling for aircraft and passenger services”.

Mr. Semenov also noted that UTair meets all air transport industry quality standards and emphasized the positive impact of this on the airline's strong position in the airport punctuality rankings.

UTair flight punctuality has been regularly recognized by the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsia monthly ratings and by major Russian airports. UTair Aviation 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 117 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.