Ryanair, the low-cost Irish airline that famously plays a jingle every time one of its flights lands on time, came in fifteenth in the latest rankings of airline punctuality.

View the full airline punctuality table

The rankings, which detail the punctuality performance of a number of airlines flying from ten reporting UK airports, show BMI Regional to have been the most punctual airline in the year so far with an average delay of just 4.5 minutes. The airline has gradually improved its punctuality since 2010, when it was just over 7 minutes, although its performance this year is slightly down on 2012 (4.3).

Ryanair, which boasts so proudly of its ‘on time flights’, has an average delay of 11.7 minutes this year, although it is the most punctual airline flying between London and Dusseldorf, London and Oslo and London and Alicante.

Ryanair’s main low-cost rival, easyJet, came in eighth, with an average delay of 10.5 minutes.

The UK’s flag carrier, British Airways, is down in 30th position, with an average delay of 16.2 minutes, with 72.6 per cent of flights leaving within fifteen minutes of their scheduled departure time.

The highest-ranked airline not to be a regional airline is KLM. The Dutch flag carrier, in third place — behind BMI Regional and BA’s CityFlyer — reported a strong 85.5 per cent of flights leaving on time, with an average delay of 8.3 minutes so far this year. However, as with other airlines, this is down on 2012 — when KLM had an average delay of 6.7 minutes.

Perhaps the most surprising performer is Eastern Airways, in 31st place. The airline’s average delay has almost doubled on 2012, when it was 9.1 minutes, with 2013 flights so far delayed by an average of 17.5 minutes.

Under EU rules, after a delay of 2-3 hours your airline or tour operator has a duty to look after you whilst you wait at the airport, passengers can also claim a full refund if a flight is delayed more than 5 hours and you choose not to travel.

Travel insurance can also provide cover for travel delay, providing a fixed benefit for every 12 hours you are delayed and also giving you the option to ‘abandon’ your holiday and make a claim to recoup the cost.

Find out more about your rights if your flight is delayed and how travel insurance can help: Flight delays, your rights and how travel insurance can help.

2013 Ranking by Jan-Mar average delay (ascending). Analysis includes arrivals and departures at UK reporting airports.Data obtained from www.flightontime.info.