Qantas led Australia’s domestic carriers for punctuality in the 12 months to June 2017, new figures show.
The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) report on domestic on-time performance said Qantas had 86 per cent of its flights arrive within 15 minutes of schedule in 2016/17, ahead of Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) at 85.2 per cent.
Virgin Australia, which had the best on-time performance of all airlines in 2015/16, was third at 85.1 per cent.
Qantas was also best for on-time departures at 87.6 per cent, followed by Virgin at 86.8 per cent.
Among the low-cost carriers, Tigerair Australia maintained its advantage over rival Jetstar in terms of on-time performance.
However, the gap between the pair was sharply reduced in 2016/17, with Tigerair experiencing big declines in terms of arrivals and departures.
The BITRE figures showed 76 per cent of Tigerair services reached the gate within 15 minutes of schedule in 2016/17, down 8.4 percentage points from the prior year. However, Jetstar also suffered a fall in arrivals punctuality and stayed in second place at 75.7 per cent.
Similarly, Tigerair’s punctuality rate for departures was 76.8 per cent, well ahead of Jetstar at 72.6 per cent.
Rex had the lowest percentage of cancellations in 2016/17, with just 0.8 per cent of its 75,672 scheduled flights in the year 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 Alice Springs leading the way for on-time arrivals at 92.4 per cent and Newman topping the table for departures at 92.6 per cent.
Perth was the only capital city airport in the top 10, sitting eighth for on-time departures with 88.6 per cent of flights pushing back from the gate within 15 minutes of schedule.
On-time arrivals for 2016/17
Qantas 86.0% (-2.8)
Virgin Australia Regional 85.2% (0.0)
Virgin 85.1% (-4.4)
QantasLink 84.5% (-1.9)
Rex 82.8% (-2.7)
Tigerair 76.0% (-8.4)
Jetstar 75.7% (-2.5)
Qantas network 85.2% (-2.3)
Virgin network 85.1% (-3.7)
Figures in brackets indicates percentage point change from previous year
On-time departures for 2016/17
Qantas 87.6% (-2.1)
Virgin 86.8% (-3.8)
Rex 85.8% (-2.7)
Virgin Australia Regional 85.8% (+0.6)
QantasLink 85.1% (-2.0)
Tigerair 76.8% (-8.7)
Jetstar 72.6% (-2.5)
Virgin network 86.8% (-3.2)
Qantas network 86.3% (-2.0)
Figures in brackets indicates percentage point change from previous year
Source: BITRE
