Cancelled
4.1%
2.0 pts worse than average
Melbourne to Sydney
MEL → SYD · 706 km · 2,096 flights a month · Sydney to Melbourne
On time (departures)
78.3%
national 78.2%
Flight time
1h 25m
10m shorter than the return
Latest month
4.3%
Jul 2026 cancelled
Airlines
4
on this direction
Punctuality: 12 months to Jul 2026
Flights between Melbourne and Sydney carried 621,564 passengers in both directions in Jun 2026, ranking 1st of the 62 routes with reported traffic that month. Over the 12 months to Jul 2026, 4.1% of flights from Melbourne to Sydney were cancelled, well above the national average of 2.1%. Which airline you fly matters: QantasLink cancelled 8.0% of its flights in this direction, 2.4× the rate of Virgin Australia at 3.3%. Traffic is still running at 85.8% of its 2019 average.
The route
706 km great-circle · 1h 25m typical
Punctuality by airline
12 months to Jul 2026. Qantas and QantasLink are reported separately in the source data and are shown that way here — on many routes the difference between them is large.
| Airline | Group | Flights | Cancelled | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qantas | Qantas Group | 9,826 | 4.4% | 82.2% |
| Virgin Australia | Virgin Australia Group | 8,969 | 3.3% | 81.1% |
| Jetstar | 6,029 | 4.6% | 67.2% | |
| QantasLink | Qantas Group | 327 | 8.0% | 89.7% |
Cancellations over time
Punctuality data begins Nov 2003 and runs to Jul 2026. Gaps are months with no reported services, not missing data.
Passengers, 1984 to 2026
Traffic: to Jun 2026 · Marks show industry events
Passenger figures count both directions together — Melbourne to Sydney and back. The published statistics do not separate them. Cancellations, punctuality and flight numbers above are for Melbourne to Sydney only.
When is this route busiest?
Average passengers by calendar month, relative to the annual average. 2020 and 2021 are excluded — those years were a structural break, not a season, and leaving them in shifts the apparent peak month on most routes. Higher months are typically the more expensive ones to fly.
Both directions combined, as published.
How long is the flight?
Scheduled flight time from Melbourne to Sydney is 1h 25m gate to gate, over 706 km. The return leg is scheduled at 1h 35m — the two directions differ by 10m, so this way round is the quicker 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
92 flight numbers currently scheduled from Melbourne to Sydney. These are the numbers you book under — some are operated by a regional partner such as QantasLink or Alliance.
Typical flight time 1h 25m.
Scheduled every day this week — 522 departures in all.
Qantas · 40 · Boeing 737-800, Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Airbus A220-300
QF404 · QF406 · QF408 · QF410 · QF412 · QF414 · QF416 · QF418 · QF420 · QF426 · QF428 · QF434 · QF436 · QF438 · QF442 · QF444 · QF446 · QF448 · QF450 · QF452 · QF454 · QF456 · QF458 · QF462 · QF466 · QF468 · QF470 · QF474 · QF476 · QF478 · QF480 · QF484 · QF486 · QF490 · QF498 · QF1226 · QF1228 · QF1260 · QF1262 · QF1514
Virgin Australia · 34 · Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737, Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737 MAX 8
VA803 · VA807 · VA811 · VA813 · VA815 · VA817 · VA819 · VA823 · VA825 · VA827 · VA829 · VA833 · VA837 · VA841 · VA845 · VA847 · VA849 · VA851 · VA853 · VA855 · VA859 · VA863 · VA867 · VA869 · VA871 · VA875 · VA877 · VA879 · VA883 · VA887 · VA889 · VA891 · VA895 · VA897
Jetstar · 18 · Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Boeing 737-800
JQ500 · JQ502 · JQ504 · JQ508 · JQ510 · JQ512 · JQ514 · JQ516 · JQ518 · JQ520 · JQ522 · JQ524 · JQ526 · JQ528 · JQ530 · JQ532 · JQ534 · JQ536
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 | 834,347 · Nov 2017 |
| Pandemic low | 4,698 · Aug 2021 |
| Traffic vs 2019 average | 85.8% |
| Load factor, Jun 2026 | 85.2% |
| Aircraft trips, Jun 2026 | 4,192 |
| Great-circle distance | 706 km |
Traffic: to Jun 2026