Australian airlines were running even later than usual in June
Close to one in five domestic flights weren't on time.
June wasn't a great month for Australian air travellers, with on-time performance slipping across every major domestic carrier.
During that month, 83.9% of flights departed on time and 82.5% arrived on time, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE). That's down on the long-term average for those figures (82.8% and 84.2%). 2.2% of all scheduled flights during the month were cancelled.
The best-performing airline for on-time arrivals was Virgin Australia (85.4%), followed closely by Qantas (84.8%). In the low-cost carrier space, Jetstar on 73.4%. There was a similar pattern in on-time departures, as you can see in the full table below:
| Airline | On-time arrivals | On-time departures | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jetstar | 73.4% | 70.9% | 2.2% |
| Qantas | 84.8% | 86.5% | 1.7% |
| Qantaslink | 84.3% | 85.3% | 2.5% |
| Regional Express | 81.5% | 84.8% | 1.5% |
| Virgin Australia | 85.4% | 87.7% | 2.6% |
| Virgin Australia Regional | 81.6% | 85.3% | 2.3% |
| All airlines | 82.5% | 83.9% | 2.2% |
While Virgin had the most on-time departures, it also had the highest percentage of cancellations (2.6%). The riskiest routes to fly in June were Brisbane-Moranbah (8.4% cancelled), Sunshine Coast-Sydney (6.9%0, Moranbah-Brisbane (6.9%), Armidale-Sydney (5.7%), Sunshine Coast-Sydney (5.6%) and Sydney-Melbourne (5.4%). Sydney-Melbourne is one of the world's busiest air routes, so at least passengers who face cancellations there won't have to wait too long for another service.
June also saw a rise in price for domestic business airfares. Choosing the right time of day to fly can lower those costs, but early morning and late night flights will cause complications if there's a cancellation.
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