Major increase in cancelled and delayed flights to and from Adelaide in September

There was a massive increase in cancelled flights to and from Adelaide last month, while a staggering number of services were delayed by more than 15 minutes. Find out why.

Cancelled flights to and from Adelaide Airport increased by 35 per cent in September, and a further 1274 services were delayed by more than 15 minutes.

More than 200 flights were cancelled last month – around six per day, according to data released by the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics.

Adelaide Airport. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Emma Brasier

It comes as regional service Rex Airlines began its new daily Adelaide-Brisbane service on Monday, providing an additional 124,000 seats a year between the two cities.

Poor performance at Sydney Airport had a major impact on Adelaide with 5.8 per cent of Sydney flights forced to be cancelled last month.

Federal Opposition transport spokeswoman Senator Bridget McKenzie said tens of thousands of South Australians were disrupted by flight cancellations and delays in September and called for Federal Labor to implement policies to fix the aviation industry.

“More than 200 Adelaide flights were cancelled last month and a further 1274 services were delayed by more than 15 minutes,” Senator McKenzie said.

“Adelaide’s flight cancellation rate of 4 per cent was above the national average in September and almost twice the long-term industry average.

“September was the eighth month in a row more than one in four Adelaide flights was delayed.”

Senator McKenzie said South Australians were suffering because of an outdated slot management regime for flights in and out of Sydney Airport, and that Transport Minister Catherine King needed to fast-track the government’s promise to reintroduce the ACCC’s aviation monitoring.

“The Transport Minister has the power to resolve Sydney’s slot saga today and improve the reliability and competitiveness of the entire domestic aviation network, including Adelaide.”

Adelaide Airport executive general manager Dermot O’Neill said traffic numbers in September were “very close” to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

“In September … we were about 99.8 per cent of pre-Covid traffic,” Mr O’Neill said. “Internationally, we saw that approaching 90 per cent, so our domestic and regional numbers for the month of September were just over 100 per cent (of 2019 levels).”

Mr O’Neill said flight cancellations and delays were a matter for individual airlines and determined by a number of factors.

“There could be weather issues that sometimes contribute to it, it can sometimes be staffing issues,” Mr O’Neill said.

Rex’s new Adelaide-Brisbane service comes after Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways both confirmed additional capacity into Adelaide.

Singapore Airlines will add another four flights a week over summer, while Batik Air Indonesia will commence four weekly services to Denpasar on November 8.

Vietnamese carrier VietJet will also begin five services a week later this month – the first time any Vietnamese airline has included Adelaide as a regular destination.

Treasurer Stephen Mulligan said the increased flight capacity was a great result for tourism and investment in SA.

“It is essential that we continue to strengthen our relationships with leading airline providers and pursue new opportunities for South Australia to secure new airlines,” Mr Mullighan said.

Rex deputy chairman John Sharp said its national average for on-time departure was nearly 80 per cent, with a cancellation rate of only 0.2 per cent.

“Our forward bookings on Adelaide-Brisbane indicate that passengers are already embracing Rex’s outstanding record of operational excellence," Mr Sharp said.

Originally published as Major increase in cancelled and delayed flights to and from Adelaide in September