Qantas pips local rivals on punctuality

Figures for the domestic aviation industry released yesterday show Qantas came out on top last year among the major airlines, followed by Virgin Blue, Jetstar and Tiger Airways.

Of the 118,052 Qantas flights last year, around 87 per cent left and arrived on time.

"On time" is defined as being within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, according to the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, which compiles the figures.

Qantas led in on-time performance for nine of the months in the last year.

"'Safety-before-schedule' will always be the Qantas mantra, and weather, airspace and airfield issues will, at times, frustrate airlines and their customers," said the airline's chief executive, Alan Joyce.

"We have invested significantly in recent years to retain and maintain this [on time] leadership."

On the Melbourne-Sydney route, Qantas was the most punctual with around 86 per cent of flights leaving Melbourne on time.

The next closest was Tiger Airways with about 79 per cent leaving Melbourne on time.

Melbourne and Sydney airports were equal in overall punctuality for arrivals, at 83 per cent of flights, but Sydney managed to get 84 per cent of flights away on time, which was slightly ahead of Melbourne, at 83 per cent.

A Melbourne Airport spokeswoman said the difference with Sydney Airport's on-time performance was "not significant" as air traffic control was run by Air Services Australia, not the airport.

Air traffic controllers took into account a range of safety factors including runway usage, weather, wind direction and strength and visibility when co-ordinating arrivals and departures, she said.

Despite the steady stream of gripes from Twitterers about flight cancellations, only 1.2 per cent of flights were cancelled last year.

Jetstar had the lowest level of cancellations among the major players.