MCY to MEL flight delays
Maroochydore (MCY) Melbourne (MEL)
3,243 flights · March 2025 – August 2026 · Australian Government BITRE
70.63%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
0.68%
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 19.8 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 May it ran 34.5 points more punctual than in July — 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. MEL to MCY arrives on time 7.9 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.
Flights from Maroochydore to Melbourne run late more often than the average route, though not severely.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over March 2025 – August 2026, Virgin Australia arrived on time most often on MCY to MEL. Qantas was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in May and worst in August.
Every airline on MCY to MEL
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jetstar | 1,401 | 68.18% | 0.86% | — | D |
| Virgin Australia | 1,247 | 79.68% | 0.56% | — | B |
| Qantas | 535 | 59.85% | 0.37% | — | D |
| QantasLink | 60 | 35.59% | 1.67% | — | — |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
MEL to MCY Melbourne back to Maroochydore 78.53% on time COther routes from Maroochydore
Common questions
Are flights from Maroochydore to Melbourne usually delayed?
70.63% of flights on the MCY to MEL route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 3 in every ten arrived late. That is worse than the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Maroochydore to Melbourne?
Virgin Australia, at 79.68% on time across 1,247 flights. The least punctual on the route was Qantas at 59.85%.
How often are MCY to MEL flights cancelled?
0.68% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 7 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Maroochydore to Melbourne?
May, when 85% of flights arrived on time. The worst was July at 50.5%.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on MCY to MEL 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 →