Airline On Time Performance Statistics —Monthly

Summary—January 2021

For January 2021, on time performance over all routes operated by participating airlines (Jetstar, Qantas, QantasLink, Regional Express, Virgin Australia and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines) averaged 88.3 per cent for on time arrivals and 88.0 per cent for on time departures. The cancellation rate for the month was 6.9 per cent. The equivalent figures for January 2020 were 74.3 per cent for on time arrivals, 75.4 per cent for on time departures and 2.8 per cent for cancellations.

This month's on time arrivals figure was higher than the long term average performance for all routes (82.2 per cent) and the on time departures figure was also higher than the long term average (83.5 per cent). The rate of cancellations was higher than the long term average of 1.7 per cent.

The Virgin Australia network (Virgin Australia and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines combined operations) recorded 89.1 per cent for on time arrivals while the Qantas network (Qantas and QantasLink combined operations) recorded 88.0 per cent. Virgin Australia achieved the highest on time arrivals among the major domestic airlines at 89.6 per cent followed by Qantas at 87.9 per cent and Jetstar at 86.8 per cent. Of the regional airlines, Regional Express recorded 91.2 per cent for on time arrivals, followed by QantasLink at 88.2 per cent and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines at 80.2 per cent.

The Qantas network recorded 89.4 per cent for on time departures while the Virgin Australia network recorded 85.7 per cent. Qantas achieved the highest level of on time departures among the major domestic airlines for January 2021 at 90.8 per cent, followed by Virgin Australia at 86.0 per cent and Jetstar at 85.2 per cent. Of the regional airlines, Regional Express recorded 92.3 per cent for on time departures, followed by QantasLink at 88.5 per cent and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines at 81.0 per cent.

Jetstar recorded the highest percentage of cancellations (at 13.3 per cent) during the month, followed by Qantas (at 8.7 per cent), Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (at 8.5 per cent), Virgin Australia (at 4.6 per cent), QantasLink (at 4.5 per cent) and Regional Express (at 1.6 per cent).

Airlines' on time performance varies across the routes they serve. Individual route data by specific airline for 52 routes are shown on pages 9-19.

Of the 54 routes which met the criteria for on time performance reporting in January 2021, the Brisbane-Emerald route had the highest percentage of on time arrivals (99.2 per cent) and the Sydney-Hamilton Island route had the highest percentage of on time departures (100.0 per cent). The Perth-Melbourne route had the lowest percentage of on time arrivals (42.0 per cent) and the Perth-Sydney route had the lowest percentage of on time departures (48.8 per cent).

Cancellations were highest on the Hobart-Sydney and Sydney-Hobart routes at 37.2 per cent, followed by the Hamilton Island-Sydney and Sydney-Hamilton Island routes at 30.8 per cent, the Sydney-Launceston route at 28.3 per cent, the Melbourne-Perth route at 28.1 per cent and the Newcastle-Melbourne route at 27.9 per cent.

Emerald Airport recorded the highest percentage of on time arrivals (99.2 per cent) and Emerald and Mount Isa airports recorded the highest percentage of on time departures (98.3 per cent). Broome Airport recorded the lowest percentage of on time arrivals (73.8 per cent) and Darwin Airport recorded the lowest percentage of on time departures (76.7 per cent). These figures only refer to reported routes and do not cover all flights at these airports.

Table 1: Total Industry On Time Performance for January 2021

Reporting Airlines Sectors Scheduled Arrivals On Time % Departures On Time % Cancellations %
Jetstar 4 418 86.8 85.2 13.3
Qantas - all QF designated services 10 051 88.0 89.4 6.2
Regional Express 2 002 91.2 92.3 1.6
Virgin Australia - all VA designated services 4 907 89.1 85.7 4.8
All Airlines 21 378 88.3 88.0 6.9
Individual operating entities
Qantas 4 077 87.9 90.8 8.7
QantasLink 5 974 88.2 88.5 4.5
Virgin Australia 4 625 89.6 86.0 4.6
Virgin Australia Regional Airlines 282 80.2 81.0 8.5

Figure 1: Total Industry On Time Performance by month from January 2018

On time performance by month from January 2021