School holidays to test aviation sector’s COVID recovery

Travelers at both airports are advised to pre-book parking, arrive two hours ahead of departure for domestic flights and three hours before an international flight.

Melbourne Airport boss Lorie Argues said the airport is ready for the AFL revellers and influx of Sydneysiders, adding her team is doing what they can to support the airline’s improve their operational performance. She cautioned passengers to heed the arrival time recommendations set out by the airports to “take pressure off themselves and the system.”

“We’ve learned a lot of lessons about how to manage queues over the past year. If passengers heed our arrival recommendations we are confident they will all get on their flights,” Culbert said.

The Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics data for domestic flights in August shows 82 per cent of Regional Express flights departed on time, compared with 70 per cent of Virgin Australia flights, 62 per cent of Qantas flights and 60 per cent of Jetstar flights. Rex canceled 0.8 percent of flights in August, to Virgin’s 2.5 percent, Qantas’ 3.9 percent and Jetstar’s 5.4 percent. Last school holidays, the industry’s flight cancellation rate was three times the long-term average.

Rex deputy chairman John Sharp was quick to slam competitors, crediting his staff for buoying the airline during a tough period for the industry, “contrary to what other carriers want you to believe, shocking reliability and equally appealing customer service is not an inevitable outcome even in today’s very challenging environment,” he said on Wednesday.