Are you down with OTP? That’s on-time performance and a hotly contested metric for airlines along with the completion of scheduled flights. This Australian airline is leading other major carriers as the most reliable domestic airline so far in 2025.

Starting January 2025 with a bang, Virgin Australia completed almost all (99.2%) scheduled flights last month during peak holiday travel and achieved a departure OTP of 78 per cent, well ahead of other major domestic carriers, according to the latest Bureau of Infrastructure & Transport Research Economics (BITRE) aviation data.

In comparison, Qantas’ departure OTP for January 2025 was 71.6 per cent.

Virgin Australia’s completion rate remains above the long-term average for Australian domestic carriers of 97.8 per cent and is closing in fast on the OTP long-term average of 80.7 per cent.

Virgin Australia flight crew walking with luggage on tarmac with aircraft tail in background. BITRE most reliable domestic airline
More than 99 per cent of Virgin Australia’s scheduled domestic flights operated in December and January, making it the most reliable domestic airline.

More than 3.8 million passengers flew VA in December and January, including the re-accommodation of Rex customers, racking up one of the busiest holiday periods in the airline’s history.

On being the most reliable domestic airline in 2025 so far, Virgin Australia COO Stuart Aggs said: “Reliability is incredibly important to our guests and never more so than in the holiday period when people are travelling to see family and friends.”

“In addition to improving our on-time performance, we have recorded consistently strong completion rates with more than 99 per cent of Virgin Australia’s scheduled domestic flights operating in December and January. This is despite some weather-related challenges caused by summer storms.

“A range of measures, including additional aircraft on standby and more team members rostered on reserve, have helped us manage inevitable disruption as it arises. This minimises the impact on our schedule and our guests’ travel plans,” he said.

January 2025 OTP and carrier cancellations

Virgin Australia aircraft taking off.
Virgin Australia achieved an OTP departure rate of 78 per cent in January 2025, tracking towards the most reliable domestic airline.

For all airlines, Skytrans achieved the highest on-time arrivals at 90.6 per cent, followed by Hinterland at 88.2 per cent, Rex Airlines at 80.4 per cent, QantasLink at 77.9 per cent, Virgin Australia at 77.1 per cent, Qantas at 72.3 per cent, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines at 71.6 per cent and Jetstar at 69.7 per cent.

Hinterland achieved the highest level of on-time departures for January 2025 at 93 per cent, followed by Skytrans at 90.6 per cent, Rex Airlines at 83.4 per cent, QantasLink at 78.3 per cent, Virgin Australia at 78 per cent, Qantas at 71.6 per cent, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines at 68.2 per cent and Jetstar at 66.8 per cent.

In good news for flyers when it comes to the most reliable domestic airlines, last month’s overall cancellation rate was also lower than the long-term average of 2.2 per cent at 2.1 per cent.

Skytrans recorded the highest percentage of cancellations at 16.3 per cent during the month, followed by Qantas at 2.8 per cent, Jetstar at 2.3 per cent, QantasLink and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines both at 2.1 per cent, Rex Airlines at two per cent, Virgin Australia at 0.8 per cent and Hinterland at 0.3 per cent.

Read the full report here.

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