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Industry on-time performance hit a three-year high in April for the third month in a row, according to air traffic management body Airservices Australia.
Citing official BITRE data for the month, Airservices pointed to an average of 82 per cent on-time arrivals and on-time departures in April, as well as a cancellation rate of 2 per cent, in its latest Network Overview report for May 2025.
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“This demonstrates the sustained sector-wide efforts to improve operational reliability through coordination across airlines, airports and air traffic service for collaborative network decisions and greater resilience focus,” the report read.
“This progress has been further supported by Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) compliance measures at Perth Airport which has significantly reduced delays.”
Ground delays last month were significantly down from the previous year, said Airservices, with most of these applied at Perth, and the east coast only using them to deal with adverse weather.
“Following strong service performance during the April holiday period, airspace and tower service variations increased slightly in May but remain at one-third of 2024 levels. No ground delays were attributed to Airservices at the major airports,” the report read.
“Ground delays in May reduced by over 60 per cent compared to the same month last year. Brisbane has had no GDPs for two months, and national GDP compliance was at 86 per cent.
“We remain focused on building resilience across the network and at key locations through a robust recruitment and training pipeline, and strengthening workforce deployment across major hub and regional locations to meet industry demand.”
While there were no air traffic flow management delays attributable to Airservices in May, Airservices said “unplanned staff unavailability” led to alternative routing on two Brisbane–Sydney flights, with tower operations also impacted at Alice Springs.
“Airspace service variations were confined to low-demand periods to minimise industry impact. This outcome fell short of expectations, and strengthening workforce resilience remains a top priority, particularly through roster planning and flexible resource deployment,” the report read.
“Regional tower service consistency is improving, with Albury Tower on track to return to full published operations by the end of July.”
May also saw the implementation of Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) at Brisbane, which allows better information sharing between key stakeholders including airlines, airport operators, and air traffic control.
“A-CDM, as a key enabler for reducing taxi time and predictable departure operations, is being implemented at Australia’s four busiest hubs in partnership with major airlines and airports, with Perth, Sydney and Melbourne to progressively follow over the next five months,” Airservices said.
