Cancelled
4.2%
2.1 pts worse than average
Sydney to Melbourne
SYD → MEL · 706 km · 2,090 flights a month · Melbourne to Sydney
On time (departures)
76.5%
national 78.2%
Flight time
1h 35m
10m longer than the return
Latest month
4.2%
Jul 2026 cancelled
Airlines
4
on this direction
Punctuality: 12 months to Jul 2026
Flights between Sydney and Melbourne 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, 4.2% of flights from Sydney to Melbourne were cancelled, well above the national average of 2.1%. Which airline you fly matters: QantasLink cancelled 9.4% of its flights in this direction, 2.7× the rate of Virgin Australia at 3.5%. Traffic is still running at 85.8% of its 2019 average.
The route
706 km great-circle · 1h 35m 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 | 9,845 | 4.2% | 81.1% |
| Virgin Australia | Virgin Australia Group | 8,882 | 3.5% | 77.2% |
| Jetstar | 6,029 | 4.7% | 68.9% | |
| QantasLink | Qantas Group | 328 | 9.4% | 52.9% |
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 — Sydney to Melbourne and back. The published statistics do not separate them. Cancellations, punctuality and flight numbers above are for Sydney to Melbourne 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 Sydney to Melbourne is 1h 35m gate to gate, over 706 km. The return leg is scheduled at 1h 25m — the two directions differ by 10m, 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
92 flight numbers currently scheduled from Sydney to Melbourne. These are the numbers you book under — some are operated by a regional partner such as QantasLink or Alliance.
Typical flight time 1h 35m.
Scheduled every day this week — 511 departures in all.
Qantas · 42 · Boeing 737-800, Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Airbus A220-300
QF401 · QF405 · QF409 · QF413 · QF415 · QF421 · QF423 · QF425 · QF429 · QF433 · QF435 · QF437 · QF439 · QF441 · QF443 · QF445 · QF447 · QF449 · QF451 · QF453 · QF455 · QF457 · QF459 · QF461 · QF465 · QF467 · QF471 · QF473 · QF475 · QF477 · QF479 · QF481 · QF483 · QF485 · QF493 · QF499 · QF1225 · QF1227 · QF1261 · QF1263 · QF1265 · QF1515
Virgin Australia · 32 · Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737, Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737 MAX 8
VA800 · VA804 · VA808 · VA810 · VA812 · VA814 · VA816 · VA818 · VA820 · VA824 · VA826 · VA830 · VA832 · VA834 · VA838 · VA842 · VA846 · VA850 · VA858 · VA862 · VA866 · VA868 · VA870 · VA872 · VA874 · VA876 · VA878 · VA882 · VA884 · VA886 · VA888 · VA892
Jetstar · 18 · Airbus A320, Airbus A321
JQ501 · JQ505 · JQ507 · JQ509 · JQ511 · JQ513 · JQ515 · JQ517 · JQ519 · JQ521 · JQ523 · JQ525 · JQ527 · JQ529 · JQ531 · JQ533 · JQ535 · JQ537
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