Flight time
3h 15m
Cairns to Adelaide, scheduled
Cairns to Adelaide
CNS → ADL · 2,131 km · Adelaide to Cairns
Distance
2,131 km
great-circle
Punctuality for this route is no longer reported, though historical figures remain below.
The route
2,131 km great-circle · 3h 15m typical
Cancellations over time
Punctuality data begins Nov 2003 and runs to Oct 2023. Gaps are months with no reported services, not missing data.
Punctuality is no longer reported for this route. The historical series above ends Oct 2023.
Passengers, 2021 to 2026
Not enough data to chart.
Traffic: to Jun 2026 · Marks show industry events
Passenger figures count both directions together — Cairns to Adelaide and back. The published statistics do not separate them. Cancellations, punctuality and flight numbers above are for Cairns to Adelaide only.
How long is the flight?
Scheduled flight time from Cairns to Adelaide is 3h 15m gate to gate, over 2,131 km. The return leg is scheduled at 3h — the two directions differ by 15m, so this way round is the slower one.
This is scheduled block time — from leaving the gate to reaching it at the other end — not time in the air, and not a substitute for checking your own booking. It is a median across the flights currently timetabled on this leg.
Flight numbers on this route
2 flight numbers currently scheduled from Cairns to Adelaide. These are the numbers you book under — some are operated by a regional partner such as QantasLink or Alliance.
The route still operates, but it is no longer large enough to appear in the published passenger statistics — those end Oct 2023. The timetable below is current.
Typical flight time 3h 15m.
Scheduled every day this week — 10 departures in all.
Jetstar · 2 · Airbus A320, Airbus A320 (Sharklets)
JQ961 · JQ963
Current timetable as at 2026-09-06
Timetables change; these are not a booking source and carry no punctuality figures of their own. The cancellation and on-time rates above are for the route as a whole, not for any single flight number — per-flight performance is not collected.
The route in numbers
| Busiest month on record | 17,305 · Jul 2023 |
| Pandemic low | 8,652 · Dec 2021 |
| Great-circle distance | 2,131 km |
Traffic: to Jun 2026