London's airports and the airlines that use them have found a solution to the congestion and chaos they cause for paying passengers: the recession.

Latest official statistics reveal that airline punctuality at London's airports is the best it has been in more than a decade.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, four in five flights were within 15 minutes of being on time in the first quarter of 2009.

While that may not sound like a startlingly strong performance, it is the first time that level of punctuality has been achieved since 1995 - an era in the aviation industry so long ago that budget airlines like easyJet and Ryanair didn't exist.

Industry insiders, however, are conceding the improvement in punctuality — which plumbed to a low of just 56% at Heathrow the first quarter of 2008 — has little to do with airports and airlines upping their game and more to do with the fact they run better when they are less busy.

The latest passenger figures at London's airports show that traffic going through Stansted has dived by nearly a fifth, Gatwick has handled 10% fewer passengers this year so far, while passenger number at Heathrow are running 200,000 fewer a month than a year ago.

The statistics will be jumped on by groups campaigning against plans for the airports to expand and build new runways.

BAA wants to build a third runway at Heathrow and a second at Stansted. Bidders to buy Gatwick have all signalled they want to build a second runway there.