Qantas says new aircraft and more efficient boarding techniques have helped push it to the top of global on-time performance rankings for major airlines and have given the Flying Kangaroo its best yearly result since 2019.
Digital flight information provider OAG recorded the Australian airline in June as having an “on-time performance” of 87.1 per cent, ahead of Avianca (Colombia) on 87 per cent and IndiGo (India) with 86.6 per cent.
Garuda Indonesia recorded a higher on-time performance score of 97 per cent but it flew about one third the number of flights as Qantas in June and is not placed in the major airlines category.
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An “on-time” flight is one that departs or arrives within 15 minutes of its scheduled time.
Across all airlines, Qantas sits in 23rd spot according to OAG and has a cancellation rate of 1.59 per cent.
Virgin Australia sits down the page in 71st spot with 80.1 per cent of flights recorded on time. Just 0.96 per cent of Virgin’s flights in June were cancelled.
Jetstar is further back in 90th position with 75.8 per cent flights on time, and a cancellation rate of 0.77 per cent for the month.
A QantasLink Airbus A220. Credit: Supplied
Qantas Domestic CEO Markus Svennson says new aircraft have helped sharpen the airline’s operations.
“We know how much our customers value getting to their destination safely and on time. Across our teams, there has been a huge amount of work to improve our reliability,” he said.
Qantas now has 12 Airbus A220-300s with another three on the way shortly. By the end of 2027 the A220 fleet will more than double to 29. The aircraft type joined the fleet in 2023 and consistently rates highly with passengers for its large windows and quiet cabin. Economically it’s also a win, burning about 25 per cent less fuel than the aircraft it replaced — the Boeing 717.
The other fresh faces in the hangar belong to the larger Airbus A321XLR, of which Qantas has seven, with another 41 on the way.
They also offer better reliability, quieter cabins and less fuel burn. Importantly, recent A321XLR arrivals include an extra toilet in economy after the first three planes were criticised for only having two loos down the back to be shared between 180 passengers.
The 321XLRs are progressively replacing the Boeing 737 on the longest domestic flight between Brisbane and Perth, which will clearly help the airline’s on time performance. The 3600km flight is a stretch for the older 737s to complete, especially when headwinds force some flights to stop in Adelaide to refuel.
A Qantas Airbus A321XLR Credit: Supplied
“While we know there’s always more to do and not every customer journey is seamless, improving reliability remains a key focus for us,” said Marcus Svennson.
“We’re continuing to invest in initiatives that help more of our customers get away on time and deliver a better experience every time they fly with us.”
Qantas says dual boarding of aircraft, a push to streamline aircraft turnaround procedures combined with enhancements to crew and plane allocation have helped the airline’s performance.
Transport department figures from April show Melbourne to Sydney is the busiest domestic route with 675,100 passengers, down 2.3 per cent on the same month last year.
The second busiest route is Brisbane to Sydney with 370,400 passengers, up 2.6 per cent.
Third busiest was Brisbane to Melbourne with 311,500 passengers, down 2.2 per cent.
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