Qantas' Sydney-Melbourne cancellations soar to 1-in-10

Qantas is cancelling almost one in 10 of its scheduled flights between Sydney and Melbourne every day but has rejected suggestions it is scratching services at short notice just because it hasn't sold enough seats. The airline's average monthly cancellation rate for Sydney-Melbourne flights was 9.5% in the six months to November, according to data collected by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics. That is almost double the rate compared to two years ago, and a three-fold increase since 2015. Cancellation rates are broadly the same from Melbourne to Sydney. Qantas' main competitor on the route, Virgin Australia, has not seen the same increase in cancellations; they have risen from 5 to 6% since 2017. The federal government bureau records a flight as being "cancelled" if it is called-off or rescheduled less than seven days prior to its scheduled departure time. Qantas operates up to 46 return flights daily on Sydney-Melbourne, which is the world's second-busiest air route, with flights every 15 minutes during the peak periods. "We know how important it is for our customers to get to their destination on time," a Qantas spokesman said. "While our cancellation rate between Melbourne and Sydney improved significantly in December it is still too high."<br/>