Domestic airlines continued the downward trend of lower on-time arrivals and departures in November 2022 against the long-term average plus a higher-than-usual cancellation rate of 4.4 per cent.
In November 2022, on-time performance across all routes operated by participating airlines (Jetstar, Qantas, QantasLink, Rex Airlines, Virgin Australia and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines) averaged 66.2 per cent for on-time arrivals and 66.5 per cent for on-time departures.
The cancellation rate that month also hit 4.4 per cent, higher than the long-term average of 2.1 per cent.
In contrast, the average on-time arrivals and on-time departures stats recorded for November 2021 was around 87 per cent, according to the latest BITRE airline on-time performance stats summary.
All airlines hit significantly lower performance targets compared to October 2022 where the average cancellation rate was 2.9 per cent.
On-time arrivals
- QantasLink (74.9%)
- Qantas (66.8%)
- Rex Airlines (65%)
- Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (64.9%)
- Jetstar (61.3%)
- Virgin Australia (60.9%)
On-time departures
- QantasLink (74.7%)
- Rex Airlines (67.2%)
- Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (65.9%)
- Qantas (65.8%)
- Virgin Australia (61.9%)
- Jetstar (60.7%)
Cancellations
- Jetstar (7.2%)
- Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (6%)
- Virgin Australia (4.9%)
- Qantas (3.7%)
- QantasLink (3.6%)
- Rex Airlines (3.1%)
The Qantas network (Qantas and QantasLink) reported the best on-time arrivals and departures percentages, followed by Rex Airlines, the Virgin Australia network and Jetstar.
It’s somewhat better news for Qantas, which also recently regained the top spot for world’s safest airline in the 2023 AirlineRankings.com list.
Jetstar recorded the highest percentage of cancellations at 7.2 per cent during the month, followed by the Virgin Australia network (5%), Rex Airlines (3.1%) and Qantas network (3%).
The Department of Transport report found passengers on regional routes fared best with the Townsville–Cairns service recording the highest percentage of on-time arrivals (87.8%) while the Adelaide-Alice Springs service had the highest on-time departures (92.7%).
Cancellations were highest on the busy services. The Melbourne–Sydney (11.9%) and Sydney–Melbourne (11.6%) routes reported the most cancellations followed by the Canberra–Sydney route (9.2%) and Sydney–Brisbane and Gold Coast–Sydney routes (both 7.7%).
For airports, the regional Queensland hubs were the on-time performance winners again.
Emerald Airport recorded the highest on-time arrivals (84.4%) and Mount Isa Airport recorded the highest percentage of on-time departures (85.9%).
Read about the world’s best airlines and airports for on-time performance here.
