The safe and expeditious recovery of our forces returning from operational theatres is a high priority. Troop movement is generally working well and between April and December 2006, 80 per cent. of RAF operational passenger air transport flights were on time or delayed by less than three hours. For Iraq this figure was 86 per cent. and for Afghanistan it was 75 per cent. Recent improvements to the Afghanistan air-bridge include refurbishment of the runway at Kandahar Airfield, which was completed in November 2006. This now allows troops to fly from an airport closer to the majority of deployed locations, reducing in-theatre journeys by up to 24 hours.