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Qantas was the most on-time major domestic airline last year, according to annual data released by BITRE on Friday.
QF-designated flights (Qantas and QantasLink) saw 77.9 per cent on-time arrivals and 78.8 per cent on-time departures in 2025, compared to 76 per cent and 77 per cent respectively for VA flights (Virgin Australia and VARA); however, Virgin beat Qantas on completion rates for the year.
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The news comes after Qantas placed third in the world for on-time performance in 2025 according to analytics firm OAG, which factors in both domestic and international figures.
Across all reporting airlines (Hinterland, Jetstar, Qantas, QantasLink, Rex Airlines, Skytrans Australia, Virgin Australia and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines), 76.9 per cent of flights arrived on time and 77.7 per cent departed on time, with 2.5 per cent cancelled.
This was an improvement on 2024 in all three metrics (74.6 per cent for on-time arrivals, 75.4 per cent for on-time departures and 2.6 per cent for cancellations), but worse than long-term averages of 80.5 per cent on-time arrivals, 81.6 per cent on-time departures and 2.2 per cent cancellations.
“We know how important getting away on time is for our customers and our teams have been working really hard to improve our punctuality year-on-year,” a Qantas spokesperson told Australian Aviation, noting that it has been the most punctual major domestic airline for six years running.
“While we’ve made good progress, we know there’s more to do. We’re continuing to invest across our operations, from engineering to airports and new aircraft so we can continue build on this momentum.”
Virgin Australia had a lower cancellation rate than Qantas at 1.7 per cent compared to 3.2 per cent, reflecting its policy of prioritising flight completion over on-time performance.
A Virgin Australia spokesperson said the results “reflect the dedication of our team members and our ongoing focus on punctuality and strengthening our performance across our domestic network for our guests”.
“We are pleased to have delivered the lowest cancellation rate of the major Australian airlines in 2025, while carrying more guests than ever before,” they said.
“More than 21 million guests travelled across Virgin Australia’s domestic and short haul international network last year – the highest in the airline’s history, surpassing the previous record set in 2019.
“We know how important it is to get our guests to their destination on their desired day of travel, and with an average completion rate of 98.3 per cent of scheduled domestic flights, our results show we are consistently delivering on that commitment.”
Virgin toppled Qantas in January’s BITRE results after seven months lagging the Flying Kangaroo.
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