What’s behind on-time performance improvements at Australia’s biggest airports?
As the seasons change in Australia for the better, on-time performance across many of the country’s airports also seems to be improving.
Despite there being overcapacity in the overheating Australian market earlier this year, and lots of carriers fighting for the attention of the Australian traveller, this doesn’t seem to be affecting operational performance for now.
Australia’s Top 10 biggest airports all improved on-time performance in October, to an average of 88% from 80% last year. Of particular note is Perth (PER) which handled 9% more flights and still managed to ensure nine out of 10 flights left on time. Virgin Australia are driving growth at Perth, with their share of seat capacity up to 26% in October 2014 versus 22% last year. This market share has come from Qantas who have lost 4% market share, reflecting their decision earlier this year to focus on Australia’s East Coast airports. Could this shift to Virgin Australia be behind the improvement in on-time performance or is it simply that the summer weather is helping?