Most Active Airlines in Australia

Key Takeaways

77 airlines fly scheduled routes from Australia. Together they operate 1,077 distinct outgoing routes from the country's airports
Qantas runs the widest network. 175 outgoing routes from Australia — about 1.0x the next airline
SYD is the busiest hub. Ranked by the number of outgoing routes departing each airport
Every airline mapped. Explore each carrier's network on the interactive map below

Which airlines are most active in Australia? Using live AirportRoutes data, we ranked every airline by the number of distinct outgoing routes it operates from Australia’s airports — each origin-to-destination pair counted once.

Bar chart of the most active airlines in Australia by outgoing routes — The 10 most active airlines in Australia, ranked by distinct outgoing routes. Data: AirportRoutes.

The Full Ranking

Full ranking

Most Active Airlines in Australia

By distinct outgoing routes operated from the country’s airports.

Airline	Routes	Destinations	Busiest base
1. Qantas	175	60	Main hub: SYD
2. Jetstar	173	39	Main hub: SYD
3. Virgin Australia	136	44	Main hub: PER
4. QantasLink	119	47	Main hub: SYD
5. Regional Express Airlines	114	52	Main hub: SYD
6. Alliance Airlines	56	31	Main hub: BNE
7. Hinterland Aviation	33	20	Main hub: HID
8. Airnorth	32	15	Main hub: DRW
9. Network Aviation	26	15	Main hub: PER
10. Skytrans	23	12	Main hub: CNS
11. Air New Zealand	18	4	Main hub: MEL
12. Emirates	8	4	Main hub: SYD

Each Airline — Where It Flies

Pick an airline and toggle Domestic / Continental / Intercontinental to see where each one flies. Click a dot for details.

1. Qantas

175 outgoing routes from 27 airports in Australia to 60 destinations (29 domestic, 31 international). Busiest bases: SYD, BNE, MEL. Top destinations include Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth.

2. Jetstar

173 outgoing routes from 22 airports in Australia to 39 destinations (21 domestic, 18 international). Busiest bases: SYD, MEL, BNE. Top destinations include Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Coolangatta, Adelaide.

3. Virgin Australia

136 outgoing routes from 30 airports in Australia to 44 destinations (38 domestic, 5 international). Busiest bases: PER, BNE, MEL. Top destinations include Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide.

4. QantasLink

119 outgoing routes from 49 airports in Australia to 47 destinations (46 domestic, 1 international). Busiest bases: SYD, MEL, BNE. Top destinations include Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns, Canberra, Brisbane.

5. Regional Express Airlines

114 outgoing routes from 50 airports in Australia to 52 destinations (52 domestic, 0 international). Busiest bases: SYD, MEL, ADL. Top destinations include Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Port Lincoln, Melbourne.

6. Alliance Airlines

56 outgoing routes from 23 airports in Australia to 31 destinations (29 domestic, 2 international). Busiest bases: BNE, PER, ADL. Top destinations include Brisbane, Cairns, Olympic Dam, Darwin, The Granites.

7. Hinterland Aviation

33 outgoing routes from 20 airports in Australia to 20 destinations (20 domestic, 0 international). Busiest bases: HID, CNS, OKR. Top destinations include Palm Island, Horn Island, Townsville, Cooktown, Cairns.

8. Airnorth

32 outgoing routes from 12 airports in Australia to 15 destinations (14 domestic, 1 international). Busiest bases: DRW, KNX, GOV. Top destinations include Kununurra, Nhulunbuy, Groote Eylandt (Alyangula), Maningrida, Mcarthur River.

9. Network Aviation

26 outgoing routes from 13 airports in Australia to 15 destinations (13 domestic, 2 international). Busiest bases: PER, PHE, BME. Top destinations include Perth, Karratha, Port Hedland, Newman, Paraburdoo.

10. Skytrans

23 outgoing routes from 11 airports in Australia to 12 destinations (12 domestic, 0 international). Busiest bases: CNS, SYD, AUU. Top destinations include Cairns, Lord Howe Island, Lockhart River, Bamaga, Sydney.

11. Air New Zealand

18 outgoing routes from 9 airports in Australia to 4 destinations (0 domestic, 4 international). Busiest bases: MEL, BNE, SYD. Top destinations include Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, Queenstown.

12. Emirates

8 outgoing routes from 5 airports in Australia to 4 destinations (0 domestic, 4 international). Busiest bases: SYD, MEL, BNE. Top destinations include Dubai, Christchurch, Auckland, Hong Kong.