Virgin holds off Qantas to claim best on-time performance for cyclone-ravaged month of March
Virgin Australia’s plans for a June IPO have received a boost with new on-time performance data crowning the airline the country’s most punctual once again.
Business
Don't miss out on the headlines from Business. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Virgin Australia has maintained its status as the country’s most punctual airline in the cyclone-ravaged month of March, in a welcome boost to US owners Bain Capital ahead of a planned IPO.
Flight cancellations soared in the month due to the temporary halt to flights into Brisbane, Gold Coast, Coffs Harbour and Ballina as Cyclone Alfred threatened the coast, with one in 20 services scrapped across the board.
Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics data showed Virgin, Qantaslink and Jetstar all axed more than 5 per cent of domestic flights, with a total of 2309 services cut in the month.
Routes hardest hit by cancellations included Ballina-Sydney with 15.6 per cent of services scrapped, Launceston to Brisbane (14.3 per cent) and Gold Coast-Melbourne (13.7 per cent).
Of the services that did takeoff, four out of five operated on time, with Virgin Australia recording a slightly better result than Qantas.
Whereas Virgin landed 81.8 per cent of flights within 15 minutes of schedule, Qantas managed 81.1 per cent.
Jetstar and QantasLink achieved an on-time performance of 79.1 per cent and 79.4 per cent of arrivals respectively.
Virgin Australia integrated operations centre manager Danny Norman says the airline “continued to lead the way in Australian aviation” after a fourth consecutive month as the most punctual airline.
“Despite facing challenges from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, our dedicated team successfully maintained our industry-leading on-time performance,” said Mr Norman.
“Our resilience during this severe weather event highlights our operational strength and adaptability.”
Qantas pointed out its result was 3 percentage points higher than the same time a year ago, and highlighted the cancellation rate for Qantas main line was the lowest of all major carriers at 4.7 per cent despite the impact of Alfred.
“We’re really proud of the work our people have put in to improve reliability and maintain strong performance across our operations,” said a Qantas spokeswoman.
Strong on-time performance is a much sought after boast by airlines, with punctuality and reliability almost as highly valued by passengers as an excellent safety record.
Globally, Saudia Airlines had the best result in March after landing 94 per cent of flights on time, ahead of Scandinavian Airlines (91.9 per cent), AeroMexico (91.5 per cent) and Qatar Airways (90.9 per cent), according to Cirium data.
In the Asia Pacific region, Virgin Australia was ranked eighth and Jetstar tenth, based on international and domestic flight punctuality. Garuda Indonesia and Cathay Pacific were the region’s best performers, after landing more than 85 per cent of flights on time in March.
For Virgin Australia, its run of monthly on-time performance successes could not have come at a better time, as executives try to convince potential investors of the merits of an initial public offering.
The airline’s return to the ASX remains on track for mid-year, despite the recent tariff-related market turbulence which shaved 12 per cent in value off Qantas shares.
It’s believed Bain Capital is looking at selling off a 20 per cent stake in Virgin, which would take the private equity firm’s share in the company down to 48 per cent.
Qatar Airways holds a 25 per cent stake, Richard Branson’s Virgin Group 5 per cent and Queensland Investment Corporation about 2 per cent.
Mr Norman said Virgin Australia operated the “largest domestic flight schedule” of any individual airline, flying an average 395 daily flights in March.
“We remain dedicated to enhancing every aspect of our operation to provide an exceptional travel experience for all our guests who choose Virgin Australia,” he said.
Despite the disruption to flights by the cyclone, it was airports outside of the severe weather firing line that recorded the worst on-time performance.
More than a third of flights into Rockhampton arrived behind schedule, and 35.4 per cent of flights out of Broome took off late.
Of the major airports, flights out of Perth were most likely to depart on time, while services into Melbourne had the highest on-time arrivals rate.
More Coverage
Originally published as Virgin holds off Qantas to claim best on-time performance for cyclone-ravaged month of March
From Australia’s youngest Macca’s manager to $35m tycoon
What started with frustration over faulty McDonald’s equipment has become a global business for this one-time MAFS contestant, who’s built an empire reaching 100 countries. Read how he did it
Secrets of flight reward seats: How to land business class on points
More Aussies than ever are chasing elusive business class reward seats on flights. But while finding one is half the battle, experts have dished the secrets to scoring that long haul lie-flat bed.