Plane journeys are taking longer than a decade ago, according to a report.

Carriers are adding extra time to flight schedules, in some cases up to 30 minutes, to ensure they maintain punctuality and are therefore less likely to be liable for compensation payouts, the investigation by Which? Travel claimed.

The majority of flight routes are advertised as taking longer than 10 years ago, despite improvements in aircraft technology, the report found.

Researchers examined average flight times for 125 routes operated by large airlines in 2009 and compared them with last year. They found that 76 routes, 61 percent, were now slated to take longer; with 87 percent of British Airways flights analyzed found to be slower.

That proportion was 82 percent for Ryanair, 75 percent for Virgin Atlantic and 62 percent for easyJet.

BA flights from Heathrow to Bangkok, New York and Singapore were extended by 20 minutes, and a Virgin Atlantic flight from Heathrow to Newark Liberty airport now takes an average of 35 minutes longer.

Rory Boland, Which? Travel editor, said, “Passengers are likely to feel that schedule padding is another case of airlines pulling the wool over their eyes.

“Carriers are quick to claim that adding 10, 20 and even 30 minutes to flights will improve on-time performance. The accompanying slump in punctuality over recent years suggests it hasn’t helped much.

“Instead, longer scheduled flight times are likely to mean passengers spend more time sitting around at the gate or on the plane itself, just so the airline can pat itself on the back for being ‘on time’ at your destination.

“Conveniently, it could also reduce the number of instances when an airline has to pay you compensation for a flight delay.”

Airlines told the consumer magazine their aircraft were flying at slower speeds to reduce fuel consumption and that this allowed them to offer cheaper fares. BA also told Which? Travel that air traffic control congestion was a factor, with European skies now much busier than 10 years ago.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【准时】zhǔnshí punctuality being on time

【欺骗】qīpiàn pull the wool over one’s eyes deceive, fool, or misdirect one, especially to gain an advantage

一份报告声称，与十年前相比，坐飞机出行的时间变长了。

消费者杂志《Which? Travel》进行调查后声称，航空公司将航班时刻表延长，在某些情况下，延长最高达到30分钟，以确保它们能够保持航班准点，由此，它们对乘客承担赔偿责任的几率也降低了。

《Which? Travel》的报告发现，尽管这些年来飞机技术改进，但大部分公布的航线飞行时间却比10年前长了。

研究人员分析了2009年大型航空公司运营的125条航线的平均飞行时间，并将它们与去年的数据进行对比。结果发现，有76条航线，也就是61%的航线，现在的飞行时间变长了。对英国航空的航班进行分析后发现，英航87%的航班变慢了。瑞安航空、维珍大西洋航空和易捷航空飞行时间增加的航班占比分别为82%、75%和62%。

英航希思罗飞曼谷、纽约和新加坡的航班延长了20分钟，维珍大西洋航空从希思罗飞纽瓦克自由机场的航班现在平均飞行时间增加了35分钟。

《Which? Travel》主编罗里●博兰表示：“乘客很可能会觉得，航班时刻表‘增肥’是航空公司对乘客耍的新把戏。”

“航空公司声称，将航班时间增加10、20甚至是30分钟，将会改善准点率。但近年来准点率的下滑表明这样做并未起到多大作用。”

“相反，更长的计划飞行时间很可能意味着乘客要花更多的时间坐在登机口附近或飞机上面，这样航空公司就可以自夸保证了‘航班准点。’”

“另外，这样也可以减少航空公司因为航班延误而向乘客支付赔偿的情况。”

英国航企们表示，它们的飞机飞行速度变慢是为了减少燃油消耗，而且这样一来他们还可以提供更便宜的机票。

英航还对《Which? Travel》杂志表示，空中交通拥堵也是一个因素，与十年前相比，欧洲空域现在要繁忙得多。

(Chinadaily.com.cn)