More flights are cancelled between Canberra and Sydney than on any other domestic route in the country, according to the latest figures from the government.
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More than one in ten flights either way between Sydney and Canberra were chopped in February, according to monitors of performance at the Department of Transport.
"Cancellations were highest on the Canberra-Sydney route at 11.8 percent followed by the Sydney-Canberra route at 11.2 per cent." the government's Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics said after comparing performance on the 58 major Australian routes.
The Bureau said 12.6 per cent - one in eight - of Canberra flights to Sydney by QantasLink were cancelled in the month. Ten per cent of Virgin Australia's departures to the NSW capital didn't take off.
The figures for departures from Sydney to Canberra for each airline were similar, though slightly better.
The high cancellation rate prompted Stephen Byron, chief executive of Canberra Airport, to make a must-do-better plea to airlines.
"We are urgently calling on the airlines to improve their cancellations ahead of the busy travel period of Easter," he said.
"Canberrans are paying a premium price to choose air travel, and we do not want their plans being messed up because they are receiving an unreliable service."
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It's not clear why Canberra to and from Sydney is such a bad route for cancellations.
Weather may be a factor. Traffic control problems in Sydney didn't help. Airlines also say they cancel flights if there is another one soon after. Some passengers also believe that flights for which few seats have been sold get cancelled.
We are urgently calling on the airlines to improve their cancellations ahead of the busy travel period of Easter.
- Stephen Byron, chief executive of Canberra Airport
But the people who run Sydney Airport believe the major airlines like Qantas and Virgin Australia commit to too many slots - set times for taking-off and landing on each route - just to keep other competing airlines, particularly foreign ones, out.
The airlines strongly dispute this. Qantas said: "Qantas is utilising its slots in accordance with the rule and strongly denies suggestions of impropriety. Where cancellations occur, they are primarily due to factors outside of the airline's control."
On the upside for passengers at Canberra Airport, the official figures show punctuality between Canberra and Adelaide was the best in the country.
"Of the 58 routes which met the criteria for on time performance reporting in February, 2023, the Adelaide-Canberra route had the highest percentage of on time arrivals (92.2 per cent)," the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics reported.
Across the country, the Qantas network - Qantas and QantasLink - recorded about 78 per cent on-time departures and arrivals. The Virgin network - Virgin Australia and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines - had a 73 per cent record.
There was a spat between Qantas and Regional Express after Qantas claimed it was the country's most punctual airline.
"Rex today calls out Qantas on its persistent claims about being the most on-time domestic airline each month since last September," a press release said.
Qantas responded that it was only talking about major airlines.
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Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
