DRW to PER flight delays
1,087 flights · March 2025 – August 2026 · Australian Government BITRE
76.12%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
1.01%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
—
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
—
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. Virgin Australia arrived on time 12.5 points more often than Qantas over the same period on the same route — same airports, same weather, same air traffic control. A gap that survives all of that is about how the two airlines are run.
The season swings this route hard. In February it ran 33.7 points more punctual than in November — a difference bigger than the one between the best and worst airlines on most routes. If the date is flexible, it is worth more than the carrier.
The two directions do not behave alike. PER to DRW arrives on time 6 points more often than the outbound. Delay accumulates through the flying day, so whichever direction is scheduled later tends to carry the worse record — which is an argument for booking the morning departure if the choice exists.
The Darwin to Perth route sits close to the middle of the record — neither notably punctual nor notably late.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over March 2025 – August 2026, Virgin Australia arrived on time most often on DRW to PER. Qantas was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in April and worst in November.
Every airline on DRW to PER
Ranked by how many flights each one operated. A carrier with fewer than 100 flights in the period is listed but not graded.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QantasLink | 421 | 76.74% | 0.95% | — | C |
| Qantas | 277 | 70.44% | 1.08% | — | D |
| Virgin Australia | 196 | 82.99% | 1.02% | — | B |
| Virgin Australia Regional Airlines | 193 | 75.92% | 1.04% | — | C |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
PER to DRW Perth back to Darwin 82.15% on time BOther routes from Darwin
Common questions
Are flights from Darwin to Perth usually delayed?
76.12% of flights on the DRW to PER route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 2 in every ten arrived late. That is about the same as the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Darwin to Perth?
Virgin Australia, at 82.99% on time across 196 flights. The least punctual on the route was Qantas at 70.44%.
How often are DRW to PER flights cancelled?
1.01% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 10 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Darwin to Perth?
February, when 90.2% of flights arrived on time. The worst was November at 56.5%.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on DRW to PER during March 2025 – August 2026, as reported by the airlines to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "On time" is the federal definition: arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
A route's record is a description of the past, not a forecast. Weather, air traffic control and the aircraft's earlier flights that day drive most delays, and none of them are predictable from a historical rate. What the record does tell you is whether this route runs late more often than others, and which carrier on it has the better history — which is the part you can actually act on when you book.
Cancellations are counted separately from delays because they are a different problem for a traveller: a late flight still gets you there. How the grade is calculated →