Qantas was the Most Punctual Australian Carrier in September

29th Oct 2015

The Australian Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) released on Wednesday new figures, showing which airline was the most punctual and had its guests waiting the least amount of time.

Unlike the previous three months, when the lofty title of "most punctual Australia carrier" was held by Virgin Australia, last month it was Qantas who earned to be called that.

According to BITRE, Qantas had 91.8 per cent on-time arrivals in September. Virgin Australia, which led Australian carriers for on-time arrivals in June, July and August, dropped to second place with 91.3 per cent. Third place went to Tigerair Australia with 86.4 per cent and fourth to Jetstar Airlines with 83.1 per cent timely domestic arrivals.

When it comes to regional carriers, QantasLink had 88.2 per cent on-time arrivals, which was also enough for the top spot with Regional Express close behind with 87.5per cent. Virgin Australia Regional Airlines came up third, but with a big gap behind the first two with 81.8 per cent.

Things were a little different when it comes to departures, however. In this category, Virgin actually did better than in August, hiking its departures by 3.3 per cent to 92 per cent and grabbing a deserved first place ahead of Qantas' 91.8 per cent.

Interestingly enough, both Qantas and Virgin had a perfect score on punctuality last month on the Adelaide-Alice Springs route. Combined, the two airlines flew 43 times between the two cities, arriving on time each time.

Here are the best five airlines for September by arrivals and departure (brackets indicate percentage point change from August):

Arrivals:

1. Qantas 91.8% (-0.5)

2. Virgin Australia 91.3% (-1.4)

3. QantasLink 88.2% (+1.1)

4. Rex 87.5% )+1.6)

5. Tigerair 86.4% (-1.2)

Departures:

1. Virgin Australia 92.0% (+3.3)

2. Qantas 91.8% (-0.5)

3. Rex 90.3% (+2.6)

4. QantasLink 88.8% (+0.8)

5. Tigerair 869% (-1.4)