Air New Zealand performed close to the industry average for punctuality on newly – reported regional routes in Apr and edged out Jetstar on domestic jet routes for reliability.
But on the Tasman, Jetstar and Qantas both had better on time performance (OTP) than their Kiwi airline rival. The New Zealand Ministry of Transport is now collecting regional OTP figures for arrivals and departures within 15 minutes of schedule. For more than 11,000 sectors flown by seven airlines, departures were at 81.1%, arrivals 79.6% and cancellations 5.2%.
. . . Regional
On regional routes, departure OTP for NZ was 78.6%, arrivals at 80.2% and 4.6% of flights were cancelled during Apr, which airlines said was impacted by Cyclone Tam. Among other airlines Air Chathams was badly affected by weather, with 65% departure OTP while Sunair, which flies when planes are full, operated at 98% reliability.
. . . Jets
On domestic jet routes where there is competition, NZ recorded 82.1% for departures, and JQ 75.3%. For arrivals, NZ scored 83.3% and JQ 78%. NZ’s cancellation rate was 0.7% and JQ’s was 1.3%.
. . . On The Tasman
OTP over all transtasman flights was 69.5% for departures and 75.8% for on-time arrivals. The cancellation rate was 1%. NZ blamed its 59.5% Apr scheduled arrival figure to ramp congestion, weather-related disruption to Pacific Island services, and operational factors such as fast eastbound crossing times and excess cabin baggage. Tam caused further disruption mid-month. It says a small number of cancellations occurred due to aircraft maintenance issues. JQ’s arrival OTP was 78.4% and departures 84.2% while parent QF was 70.9% and 70.6% respectively.
