Virgin Australia reclaims airline performance lead in October
Month-on-month results slip below long-term averages.
While Virgin Australia outperformed Qantas Airways in terms of on-time efficiency, overall, Australian airlines arrivals, departures and cancellations were poorer than the long term average for all routes.
The latest domestic airline on-time performance stats from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) show domestic airlines on-time arrivals averaged 82% and on-time departures 83.4% in October. Long-term arrivals (82.8%) and departures (84.2%) averages were higher.
October's results were lower than last month's and a far cry from August's impressive achievement.
1.8% of all scheduled flights were cancelled last month, an increase on the long-term average of 1.4%.
In previous months Virgin Australia held the top spot back-to-back but was dethroned by major rival Qantas in September. This month Virgin's on-time arrivals (84.3%) and departures (87.3%) were better.
| Airline | On-time arrivals | On-time departures | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jetstar | 72.4% | 69.5% | 2.3% |
| Qantas | 83.2% | 84.6% | 1.4% |
| QantasLink | 84.5% | 85.6% | 2.8% |
| Regional Express | 84.0% | 86.9% | 0.5% |
| Tigerair Australia | 78.9% | 81.5% | 1.1% |
| Virgin Australia | 84.2% | 87.3% | 1.6% |
| Virgin Australia Regional Airlines | 85.2% | 85.7% | 2.4% |
| All Airlines | 82.0% | 83.4% | 1.8% |
Regional carriers continue to outshine Australia's major airlines for on-time arrivals, with Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (85.2%) and QantasLink (84.5%) the best performers.
Again, Jetstar was the worst airline for both on-time arrivals (down 4.4% month-on-month to 72.4%) and departures (down 4.9% month-on-month to 69.5%).
Regional carriers QantasLink (2.8%) and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (2.4%) recorded the highest percentage of cancellations during October.
Passengers flying from Melbourne-Cairns experienced the lowest percentage of on-time arrivals (59.1%), while those who flew Sunshine Coast-Sydney suffered the worst on-time departures (60.6%).
Cancellations were highest on the Moranbah-Brisbane route at 6.3%.
Over the last 12 months discount airfare prices across Australia have decreased. Choosing the right time of day to fly can cut costs but early morning and late night flights are likelier to incur cancellations.
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