Virgin tops on-time honours for March

This was ahead of the Qantas/QantasLink operations at 86.6 per cent.

The combined Virgin/VARA network was also ahead of Qantas for on-time departures at 89.5 per cent, compared with Qantas/QantasLink at 87.7 per cent.

All airlines suffered a decline in their on-time performance in March compared with the previous month – when they were at near record levels – with Tigerair Australia reporting the biggest fall in punctuality.

Tigerair’s on-time arrivals fell 11 percentage points to 81.2 per cent, while its on-time departures declined 10.9 percentage points to 82.1 per cent.

Despite the decline, Tigerair remains ahead of its low-cost rival Jetstar, which continued to trail the pack with an on-time arrivals rate of 79.3 per cent and on-time arrivals rate of 76.9 per cent.

The battle for passengers has led to a strong emphasis on punctuality for airlines in an effort to attract and retain customers, particularly those in the lucrative corporate and government travel sector.

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The top four Australian domestic routes for on-time arrivals all involved Brisbane Airport – Brisbane-Mount Isa Mount Isa-Brisbane, Brisbane-Hobart and Hobart-Brisbane were all perfect for punctuality in March.

Further, all 81 scheduled flights at Mount Isa Airport from Qantas, Virgin and QantasLink departed and arrived on-time in March.

On-time arrivals for March (figure in brackets indicates percentage point change from previous month)
Virgin Australia Regional 90.3% (-0.4)
Virgin 88.2% (-5.1)
Qantas 87.5% (-5.8)
QantasLink 85.8% (-3.3)
Rex 83.1% (-4.1)
Tigerair 81.2% (-11)
Jetstar 79.3% (-4.7)

Virgin network 88.3% (-4.9)
Qantas network 86.6% (-4.5)

On-time departures for March (figure in brackets indicates change from previous month)
Virgin Australia Regional 90.7% (-1.3)
Qantas 89.0% (-4.7)
Rex 86.9% (-3.3)
Virgin 89.5% (-4)
QantasLink 86.4% (-2.8)
Tigerair 82.1% (-10.9)
Jetstar 76.9% (-3.4)

Virgin network 89.5% (-3.9)
Qantas network 87.7% (-3.7)

(Source: BITRE)