High Flight Cancellation Rate Between Gladstone and Brisbane Airports

The Gladstone Observer newspaper has revealed that a Department of Transport report has found the flight sector between Gladstone and Brisbane is one of the worst for cancellations in Australia.

In January, around 33 flights between Gladstone and Brisbane were cancelled.  That's 8.9% of all flights in January.  This is compared to just 1.7% in January last year. This has prompted fears from the Gladstone Regional Council that the new Gladstone Airport Corporation may not be up to the job.

No doubt that the extreme weather contributed to most of the flight cancellations in the region, but January's bad figures weren't a one-off. In November 2012, 3.2% of flights from Brisbane to Gladstone were cancelled, and across October and November, more than a third of flights from Brisbane to Gladstone were delayed.

Virgin Australia said delays were caused by poor weather in Gladstone in January.

A QantasLink spokesperson said Brisbane Airport traffic congestion also contributed to delays in regional airports.

According to News Ltd, more than 30% of flights to Brisbane from Gladstone, Mackay, Proserpine and Rockhampton landed later than scheduled in January.

Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) claims that regional airports and airlines had much of the responsibility for poor time performance on those routes.

Some Gladstone-based frequent flyers are finding that that, often, it's easier to fly to Rockhampton and drive to Gladstone.