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Australian airlines are preparing for a busy holiday season, with load factors expected to reach 98 per cent over the coming end-of-year peak.
Between them, the major Australian airlines are expecting to fly more than 13 million passengers over the Christmas holidays, while November saw the strongest monthly year-on-year growth for Australian aviation in 2025, with load factors reaching 85 per cent according to Airservices.
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Qantas and Jetstar are together tipped to fly more than 10 million passengers in December and January, while Virgin Australia has 3.2 million scheduled seats across more than 19,000 flights between 15 December 2025 and 26 January 2026.
Both major airline groups are preparing for the surge, with Qantas Group saying it will have extra planes on standby to minimise potential disruptions as well as bringing on additional staff and crew.
Virgin Australia, meanwhile, says it has recruited and trained 185 new team members and launched new technology across major airports, among other measures.
“We know the holiday season is a busy and important time for travellers, and our exceptional team will be working hard to maintain a safe and smooth schedule and deliver a wonderful experience with our signature Virgin Flair,” said chief operating officer Chris Snook.
In its latest Australian Aviation Network Overview report, Airservices Australia said close collaboration across the aviation ecosystem “is enhancing preparedness and disruption responses during these high-demand periods”.
“November 2025 was a challenging month for the Australian aviation industry impacted by adverse weather, a Melbourne Air Traffic Services Centre (ATSC) communications outage, a fire at Melbourne Airport, and the impact of a global Airbus A320 software directive,” said Airservices.
“Lessons learned from these events are shaping the response and disruption management strategies across the industry.”
Airspace and tower service variations were down 91 per cent year on year in November, said Airservices, in a sign of continued improvement.
“However, unplanned staffing unavailability impacted Sydney Airport, which contributed to 0.7 per cent of total delays at the airport,” the report read.
“In preparation for a record summer holiday period, we have proactively reviewed rosters, rescheduled training and maintenance activities to occur outside peak periods, and will maximise the use of available controllers, including cross-trained staff, to support peak period resilience.”
