There’s honestly nothing worse than arriving at the airport to find out your flight’s been cancelled. You’re either ready and roaring for a globetrotting adventure or itching to get home after weeks spent living out of a suitcase. If you want to avoid the disappointment (and hassle) of a botched flight, you can play it safe by flying with a trusted airline – and the most reliable of them all in Australia might surprise you.
As a budget airline, Jetstar often gets a bad rap for its no-frills service – think tight seats, no free snacks and strict baggage rules. But fresh data reveals the low-cost carrier is actually more reliable than its major domestic rivals.
The Federal Government’s latest monthly Airline On Time Performance data shows Jetstar had a cancellation rate of just one per cent in September – the lowest of any major Aussie carrier. By comparison, Qantas sat at 1.9 per cent and Virgin at 1.5 per cent, while the national average hovered around 2 per cent. On the regional side, QantasLink recorded the highest cancellation rate at 3.4 per cent, whereas Virgin Australia Regional Airlines — named the World’s Best Regional Airline in 2025, serving key WA towns — had zero cancellations. Kudos to them!
If you want to avoid cancellations, steer clear of the Dubbo to Sydney route, which topped the charts as the most scratched route at 5.7 per cent. Other frequently cancelled flights include Sydney to Dubbo at 4.9 per cent, Port Lincoln to Adelaide at 4.8 per cent, Adelaide to Port Lincoln at 4.4 per cent, Canberra to Sydney and Kalgoorlie to Perth at 4.2 per cent, and Melbourne to Sydney at 4.1 per cent.
Jetstar also boasted a higher on-time arrival rate, with 79.3 per cent of flights landing as scheduled – ahead of Qantas (78.4 per cent) and Virgin Australia (77 per cent). On departures, Jetstar clocked 78.3 per cent on-time, just behind Qantas (82.5 per cent) but slightly ahead of Virgin (78.2 per cent). You can deep dive into the on-time performance statistics here.