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

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.

The CAAC conducted an informal passenger-feedback meeting about the 16 largest domestic carriers on Sunday and China Eastern received the highest rating for last year. The issues that passengers were most concerned about were being kept informed about flight delays and insufficient space between rows of seats on aircraft.

As living standards in China rise, people are paying more attention to having a comfortable flight experience, according to the CAAC.