Who knew?
Australian domestic air travel data for the 12 months ending August 2026.
Cancellation rate
• Jetstar: 1 in 48 flights
• Qantas: 1 in 56 flights
• Virgin Australia: 1 in 83 flights
• QantasLink: 1 in 33 flights
Delayed departure rate (more than 15 minutes late)
• Jetstar: 1 in 3.4 flights
• Qantas: 1 in 5.7 flights
• Virgin Australia: 1 in 4.7 flights
• QantasLink: 1 in 4.9 flights
They are all shit. Shows you what happens when you have oligarchies.
Australia’s domestic airline market is effectively a duopoly, with Qantas Group and Virgin Australia controlling 98.5% of the market. In the US, the two largest airlines control just 36%, while the four largest account for around 70%.
In 2025, US airlines cancelled one in every 65 flights compared with one in every 40 in Australia. However, the frequency of delays was about the same.
On average, flights are 23% cheaper per km travelled in the US.
Better and cheaper. I wonder what we could do to fix that eh?
It’s a mystery, ACCC!
