Low fares leader Jetstar has today reasserted its commitment to publishing its New Zealand domestic On-Time Performance (OTP) figures with the posting of recent results at Jetstar.com.

In a presentation today to the Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce, Jetstar Chief Executive Officer Bruce Buchanan outlined the airline's plans to work alongside the region to further stimulate visitor growth and reinforce the profile of Wellington as a key visitor destination in New Zealand and Australia.

Mr Buchanan said Jetstar’s OTP results had continually improved in its first nine weeks of operation, with 79 per cent of all flights arriving on time during July.

The low fare airline’s OTP has continued to improve into August, with 83 per cent of all flights arriving on time last week (for the week ending 8 August 2009).

“These results and their positive trend line demonstrate that Jetstar is committed to continuously improving its On-Time Performance for the benefit of our customers,” Mr Buchanan said.

“The publishing of our OTP results also shows Jetstar’s ongoing commitment to the New Zealand traveling public, and follows the recent introduction of the Jetstar Customer Service Guarantee whereby any passenger affected by a delay of more than one hour receives a Jetstar voucher for future travel.

“I’d particularly like to thank all of our employees and partners in New Zealand who have worked hard to contribute to these positive and continually improving results.”

Mr Buchanan said most of those services delayed during the reported period were attributable to weather conditions in Queenstown, to which Jetstar operates a daily direct service from both Auckland and Christchurch.

“Jetstar has commenced a program to introduce the latest state-of-the-art version of Required Navigation Performance (RNP). It is planned that the Jetstar fleet operating in New Zealand will be fully equipped from next winter*, that will only further improve our flight performance during the most difficult operating months of the year,” Mr Buchanan said.

Jetstar measures its OTP consistently across its Australian and New Zealand domestic networks and has well-established public reporting mechanisms in place using the accurate Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS).

Mr Buchanan said Jetstar’s use of ACARS re-enforced its commitment to transparency as the system provided automated and accurate reporting of each aircraft’s departure and arrival times.

Jetstar measures its OTP as arrivals within 15 minutes – a global and customer-accepted standard.

“Publishing departure punctuality as a measure would remove a lot of in-flight impacts once en-route, such as weather, however, it does not accurately reflect the reality for customers who are seeking an on-time arrival,” Mr Buchanan said.

Jetstar remains committed to bringing low fares and award-winning service to all of its New Zealand customers.

Data will now be published and updated monthly at Jetstar.com.

*Subject to regulatory approval