When is a Ryanair flight punctual?

I have just read that the head of Ryanair has apologised to the head of that other airline (the orange one) about a jibe concerning the orange airline not publishing punctuality statistics.

I also see many posts in this forum lauding Rayair's punctuality.

This leads me to ask:

Does the scheduled departure time refer to the gate-closed time, the push-back time, or the lift-off time?

Does the scheduled arrival time refer to the touchdown time, or the time of arrival at the gate?

When a Ryanair flight is classed as having been 'punctual', what does that actually mean? Does it refer only to the time of arrival (touchdown or at gate)?

How long after the scheduled arrival time is still 'punctual'? For example, trains are still classed as being 'on-time' if they arrive five minutes after the scheduled time; what about Ryanair flights?

I flew Ryan from SXF to STN and back a couple of months ago. The outbound touchdown was 5 minutes before the timetabled arrival time, and we were treated to a fanfare and 'Another Ryan flight arrives on time!!!!!' announcement just after touchdown. On the return flight, touchdown was 20 minutes after, and yet we got the same announcement. Why?

I have flown between TXL/THF/SXF and LHR/LGW/LCY/STN many times in the last 25 years and I have seen the timetabled flight times increase gradually by up to 25 minutes in those years. BA used to allow 1h35 for the flight; nowadays, depending on airline and time of day, up to 2 hours are scheduled - presumably so that airlines can leave late and still get there 'on time', and claim kudos for doing so.

with aviation as it is today sometimes it is not always the airlines fault for all delays, all i can add and what would concern me is .. will my plane take off and land at the time stated on my ticket or Boarding pass... with this Ryanair have impressed me greatly 98% of Ryanair flights have flown me to the good... and better than many others but for a fraction of the cost.

p.s MOL does put his hand in his pocket sometimes..... I've heard he buys air traffic controllers from alot of Ryanair hubs drinks now and then . "FR558 you are now number one for take - off " hic

Flight times are increased for the convenience of connecting pax, but there are other reasons too.

In aviation, a flight is still on-time 15 mins after the scheduled arrival.

neilk2304 wrote:In aviation, a flight is still on-time 15 mins after the scheduled arrival.

Thank you.

I wonder how many Ryan flights arrive really on-time, i.e. at or before the scheduled time, and how those stats compare with other airlines.

Perhaps Brussels should have a look at these tactics - schedule-padding and re-defining 'on-time' - as they seem to serve mainly to massage punctuality statistics and thus mislead the flying public. Not just Ryan, of course, all of them seem to be at it.

Dogmatix wrote:I wonder how many Ryan flights arrive really on-time, i.e. at or before the scheduled time, and how those stats compare with other airlines

In Ryanair's terms, on time is if it lands before or on time; but these flight times are often heavily padded. I regularly fly between PIK and BHD (Ryanair's shortest route anywhere, at just 80 miles as the crow flies) and it is blocked at 45 minutes but never taking more than 25.

Dogmatix wrote:

Does the scheduled departure time refer to the gate-closed time, the push-back time, or the lift-off time?

Does the scheduled arrival time refer to the touchdown time, or the time of arrival at the gate?

A good question, and of course very important to judge of the punctuality.
In my view (I am not 100% sure) :
- the departure time is the time when the push-back begins - or when the first engine is started;
- the arrival time is when the engines are shut off.

arrival time is probably touchdown time.

Based on the trumpet fanfare being played moments after touchdown I`d say it`s based on touchdown