Air Malta has been named as Europe’s best airline with regard to the number of pieces of luggage that is likely to be misplaced and for flight regularity, according to a recent report published by the Association of European Airlines (AEA).

The report, which covers the second quarter of the year, is a compilation of data provided by 29 airlines that gave information with regard to punctuality, 29 of which also provided figures regarding luggage.

The Maltese airline came first in the category referred to in the report as “delayed baggage”, with just 3.2 misplaced passenger bags for every 1,000. This figure refers to the situation in connection with a total of 551,997 passengers who flew Air Malta between April and June this year.

Turkish Airlines came a very close second, with 3.5 passenger bags lost for every 1,000, while Tarom Romanian Airlines and SN Brussels Airlines came third (with 8.4 bags) and fourth (with nine bags) respectively.

The airline that came last in the delayed baggage consumer report was British Airways, with 28 bags per 1,000 being misplaced.

TAP Portugal, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Luxair and Alitalia were among the airlines that were placed in the lower ranks as far as delayed baggage was concerned.

As for flight regularity, Air Malta was placed first together with Icelandair – both registering 100 per cent flight regularity for the April to June period, while Tarom Romanian Airlines came a very close third.

Air Malta did not, however, register a good placing with regard to on-time arrivals (17th) and departures (19th).

The report is based on a voluntary commitment by the members of the association to provide consumer information according to a set of commonly-defined standards.