Top Airlines in Australia
The Progressive Traveller explorers the Australian domestic airline carriers to find out which airline is tops in Australia.
Everyone knows Australians love to travel, but did you know that we still prefer domestic trips to international ones.
In Australia, there are five main domestic airline carriers – Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar, Tigerair and Rex. Together, these Australian airlines service all the major destinations in Australia with daily services along the busier domestic routes. Rex provides most of its services to regional areas of Australia.
The premium Australian airlines are Qantas and Virgin who also own their own budget airlines – Jetstar and Tigerair.
Budget airlines share a lot in common! Flying budget can mean you have to pay for your baggage allowance, flight meals, entertainment and extra legroom on top of the cost of your fare.

Tigerair Australia’s Worst Budget Airline!
Like most Australians, I have been on the receiving end of Tigerair’s shortcomings however over the last few months, I have been commuting from Gold Coast or Brisbane to Cairns, and all my Tigerair flights have come and gone without a hitch.
Which Airline Is the Best in Australia?
Best Australian Domestic Airlines is…
According to a competitive market survey conducted by Canstar Blue, Australia and New Zealand’s premier research and expert ratings agency, Qantas has taken out the top spot, with Australians rating the Flying Kangaroo five stars in the majority of categories. The categories included its service, flight scheduling, in-flight offerings and flight punctuality, as well as overall satisfaction.
Followed closely by Virgin Australia who were slightly down on overall satisfaction and inflight offerings and no surprise Tigerair took out the top spot on value for money.
Australia’s Air Safety Record
Australian airlines have a fatality free safety record for jet operations. According to AirlineRatings.com, the world’s only safety and product rating website, lists Virgin Australia and Jetstar amongst the top standouts in the industry for safety and innovation.
Qantas has been the lead airline in virtually every major operational safety advancement over the past 60 years and has not had a fatality in the jet era.
10 Air Travel Random Facts
1. Qantas invented Business Class in 1979.
2. The world’s oldest airline is the Dutch carrier KLM which was established in 1919. Qantas was founded in 1920.
3. Fear of flying is called ‘aviophobia’.
4. On average 1.3 million people are travelling in the sky at any given time.
5. Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta, Georgia in the USA is the busiest in the world.
6. An Airbus A380 costs US$437 million.
7. The fastest commercial plane in operation today is the Boeing 747-8i, which is operated by Korean Air, Air China and Lufthansa.
8. Only five per cent of the world’s population has ever been in an airplane.
9. The safest place to sit in a plane is at the back.
10. Australians takes more domestic trips than international ones.
Qantas is Number 1
As you can now see, there are a number of very good reasons why Qantas is the number 1 – Best Australian Domestic Airline service in Australia.