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Qantas and Jetstar combined are set to account for more than half of all slots at Sydney Airport over this year’s summer peak.
The Flying Kangaroo and its low-cost arm have been assigned 52 per cent of take-off and landing slots in Sydney between late October 2025 and the end of March 2026, with Virgin Australia taking 19 per cent of the total allocation, according to data released by slot manager ACL Asia Pacific (ACL).
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Qantas will take 36 per cent of slots and Jetstar 16 per cent, with Rex being assigned eight per cent; Air New Zealand will have the most of any overseas carrier at two per cent.
According to ACL, 93 per cent of all slot requests for the period were granted at the time asked for, with the remainder given at the closest available time.
CEO Neil Garwood said there has been an “encouraging increase in slot requests” compared to historical slots, with 30 carriers including freight operators bidding for additional slots, four of which benefited from new entrant priority.
“In most cases we have been able to give the airlines what they have asked for or offered the closest available,” he said.
“Obviously, competition is highest during the morning and evening peaks, however there is still room for growth.
“ACL aims to focus on increasing slot utilisation at Sydney Airport to ensure its infrastructure is used to full capacity. Slots that are not required should be made available for other airlines to use.”
Slot utilisation has been a hot-button issue at Sydney Airport for some time. Currently, an airline can keep a take-off slot indefinitely as long as it operates the slot at least 80 per cent of the time, a rule which the government last year indicated it would keep in a reform of Sydney’s slot system.
The slot rules are necessary because two aircraft cannot simultaneously take off on the same runway, but have led to accusations that major carriers are effectively gaming the system to take advantage, though both Qantas and Virgin have vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
ACL, which took over slot management at Australia’s largest airport on 1 April, was awarded a three-year contract to replace former manager Airport Coordination Australia (ACA).
ACA, which lost the contract to ACL APAC last year, had board representation from Qantas, Virgin, the Regional Aviation Association of Australia, and Sydney Airport itself.
