More than a third of Air New Zealand’s transtasman flights left late in May, latest figures show.
On-time performance data shows 35% of NZ flights to Australia departed more than 15 minutes later than scheduled. NZ also suffered a 3.1% cancellation rate. The airline trailed the Qantas group for transtasman OTP for May. Almost 86.8% of Jetstar flights departed on time, far ahead of parent QF on 72.3%. Just 0.7% of JQ flights were cancelled and 1.8% of QF flights were scrubbed.
. . . The Big Picture
All transtasman routes covered by the latest Ministry of Transport report showed OTP of 72.5% for departures and 75.9% for arrivals. The overall cancellation rate for the month was 2.0%. Gold Coast-Auckland was the route with the highest OTP for departures, with 90.1%. Cancellations were highest on the Brisbane- Christchurch route in May, with 11.1% of services cancelled. Virgin Australia scored 84.4% departure OTP out of its sole port in New Zealand, Queenstown.
. . . Weather & More
NZ says its delays on the Tasman were driven by high winds, fog at CHC, and Pratt & Whitney engine maintenance. QF reports seasonal weather-related delays (high winds and fog conditions here and storms in Australia). There was also industry congestion at airports, exacerbated by weather. JQ reports that air traffic control ground movement delays at AKL affected operations.
. . . Domestic
On domestic jet routes, NZ recorded 79.6% for on-time departures, and Jetstar 76.6%. But NZ’s cancellation rate was higher at 4.2%, while JQ’s was 2.2%. In Apr, NZ recorded 82.1% for departures, and JQ 75.3%.
