China Eastern Airlines ranked first last year in on-time performance among the three domestic airline giants, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) told Xinhua on March 9.

During 2007, 84.32 percent of the flights of China Eastern arrived and left as scheduled, according to the CAAC.

"The staff members of our company have made great efforts to provide a punctual, safe flight experience for our customers," said Cao Jianxiong, general manager of the Shanghai-based airline.

Cao added that the company had set up emergency handling centers at Shanghai's Hongqiao and Pudong airports to ease the pressure of flight delays caused by bad weather and other emergencies.

The other top two domestic carriers are Air China and China Southern Airlines.