Airservices Australia has released its Australian Aviation Network Overview report for September 2026.
Highlights include:
- School holiday travel and the AFL Grand Final contributed to periods of strong demand across the Australian aviation network in September 2026. The network recorded its busiest day of 2026 on 24 September with 2,773 passenger flights. Proactive planning and enhanced daily coordination between Airservices and industry supported service delivery throughout the peak period.
- While global economic conditions remained resilient, domestic conditions softened amid persistent inflationary pressures and recent interest rate increases. Operators continued to take a disciplined approach to optimise capacity to meet dynamic changes in demand. International trends are mixed, with Middle East traffic approximately 20% below pre-conflict levels, while Asia-Pacific traffic continued to grow by around 4% year-on-year.
- Network performance outcomes continue to strengthen. Latest industry data covering August 2026 shows that domestic airline on-time performance was above long-term averages, and cancellation rates fell to near-record lows, with all major airports delivering some of their strongest reliability outcomes in recent years.
- In September, ATFM ground delays accounted for 2.4% of total network delay, with 0.4% attributable to Airservices. Adverse weather, particularly in Melbourne where weather-related ground delays more than doubled year-on-year, along with demand exceeding scheduled capacity in Perth contributed to two thirds of ATFM ground delays. Our workforce constraints in Sydney contributed to four Ground Delay Programs. However, targeted school holiday resilience measures protected the peak travel period, with no Airservices-attributable ground delays recorded after 21 September.
- National air traffic service variations fell to their lowest level in six months and remained 92% below the monthly average in the previous three years. Airservices is actively progressing the Sydney KSA Service Resilience Plan, focused on strengthening workforce planning, recruitment, training, roster resilience and system capability. These initiatives are intended to restore service consistency at Australia's busiest airport while supporting the safe, efficient and resilient operation of the broader national aviation network.
- We remain focused on continual improvement and collaboration with government and industry stakeholders to maintain the highest standards of aviation safety.
About Airservices
Airservices Australia is a government-owned organisation responsible for safely and efficiently managing air traffic in 11 per cent of the world's airspace, as well as the provision of aviation rescue fire fighting services at Australia's busiest airports. We are regulated by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and work closely with our customers and industry to support the long-term growth of the aviation industry.
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