Qantas and its regional wing QantasLink have taken top honours for punctuality in May, new figures show.
The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) report on domestic on-time performance said Qantas had 90.8 per cent of its flights arrive within 15 minutes of schedule in May, ahead of QantasLink at 89.7 per cent.
Qantas also led the local carriers for on-time departures at 91.3 per cent, with QantasLink coming in second at 89.8 per cent.
Among the airlines covered in the BITRE report, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines was the only carrier to report a drop in on-time performance in May compared with the previous month.
On a positive note, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines had the lowest percentage of cancellations, with just two (or 0.3 per cent) of its 702 scheduled flights in the month not operated.
The BITRE report said Jetstar and Qantas jet aircraft used ACARS (Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System) to electronically measure on-time performance, while Regional Express, Tigerair Australia, Virgin Australia, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines and Qantas’s non-jet fleet recorded on-time performance manually using records from pilots, gate agents and/or ground crews.
Regional airports fared best in terms of punctuality, with Port Hedland posting 97.9 per cent on-time departures and Newman best for on-time arrivals at 97.2 per cent.
Two capital city airports made the top 10 in terms of arrivals and departures in May – Perth was in fifth place for departures with 91.5 per cent of flights pushing back from the gate within 15 minutes of schedule, while Canberra was 10th at 90.3 per cent.
On-time arrivals for May 2017
Qantas 90.8% (+1.9)
QantasLink 89.7% (+1.9)
Virgin 88.1% (+0.5)
Rex 86.3% (+1.6)
Virgin Australia Regional 84.7% (-6.8)
Jetstar 82.3% (+4.7)
Tigerair 80.0% (+1.9)
Qantas network 90.2% (+1.9)
Virgin network 87.9% (+0.1)
Figures in brackets indicates percentage point change from previous month
On-time departures for May 2017
Qantas 91.3% (+1.7)
QantasLink 89.8% (+2.8)
Virgin 88.6% (+0.6)
Rex 88.2% (+0.9)
Virgin Australia Regional 87.0% (-4.6)
Tigerair 79.0% (+1.6)
Jetstar 77.8% (+4.3)
Qantas network 90.5% (+2.3)
Virgin network 88.5% (+0.3)
Figures in brackets indicates percentage point change from previous month
Source: BITRE
