Flight Friday: Australasia Airlines Show Mixed Fleet Utilization Trends

As MRO Australasia hosts the latest gathering of the aviation aftermarket industry, this week’s Flight Friday looks at the top Australian and New Zealand operators by flight cycles, and how they have fared from January to October 2026 versus the same time frames in 2024 and 2025.

Air New Zealand has operated the most flights in 2026, numbering over 130,000. However, this is lower than both 2024 and 2025. Most of this reduction comes from fewer flights by regional turboprop aircraft. Air New Zealand has begun its narrowbody fleet renewal process, with Airbus A321neo aircraft replacing legacy A320s.

Virgin Australia has the second most flights in 2026, and its utilization profile compared to 2024 and 2025 is very positive, up almost 10% from 2024, helped in large part by the addition of 20 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with only a small reduction in 737 NGs.

Qantas make up the last of the “Big 3,” with utilization very similar to previous years, impacted due to a slight decline in 737 NG utilization as they undergo maintenance and start their phase-out from service. Qantas recently agreed to sell 44 NGs to AerFin for part-out over the next handful of years.

Regional operators Sunstate and Alliance have differing results. Sunstate has increased its utilization by adding more than 10 De Havilland Canada Dash-8s to its fleet, flying under the QantasLink banner. Alliance has seen its fleet makeup evolve from Fokker 100s to Embraer 190s, with a small dip in utilization compared to previous years. Alliance recently changed its ACMI contract with Qantas whereby it will reduce the number of aircraft that fly on Qantas’s behalf.