On December 18, Virgin Blue's reputation as Australia's most on-time airline received a boost when Australia's Department of Transport and Regional Economics figures revealed the airline had clocked up an all-time record on time departure figure of 93.8%, following the release of all airline data for October, 2006.

The statistic is the highest monthly OTP figure achieved by any major airline since the start of official records by the Department of Transport & Regional Services in November 2003. It means that 93.8% of all Virgin Blue flights in October 2006 departed on time*.

Virgin Blue lobbied for the on-time performance of all airlines to be officially registered to encourage transparency for air travellers.

For the past two years, Virgin Blue has consistently outperformed Qantas and Jetstar's on-time performance. Virgin Blue has now had better on-time performance than Qantas for 23 months straight^, giving it a competitive edge, particularly with the time-precious business market.

Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey, said, "October's 93.8% record is a fantastic achievement for the Virgin Blue team and the result of the focus and determination by each and every one of our people."

He continued, "We are well aware that being on time and reliable are important factors for all Guests, particularly those travelling on business and this is why we focus so heavily on safe and timely flight departures and other time savers such as Web-Check and Blue-Check kiosks.

"Combine these with 30 minute aircraft turnarounds and a modern, reliable fleet and we can offer a valuable point of difference from other airlines."

For the past two years, Virgin Blue has consistently maintained its lead in the OTP statistics compared with other airlines.

For more information on OTP data, log on to http://www.btre.gov.au/statistics/aviation/otphome.aspx

* Under the definition applied by DOTARS to all Australian airlines, a flight departure is deemed to be "on-time" if it departed from the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time shown in the carriers' schedule. Neither diverted nor cancelled flights count as on-time. Similarly, a flight arrival is counted as "on-time" if it arrives at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time shown in the carriers' schedule.

^ Based on total on-time departures from December 2004 to October 2006 (inclusive). "Qantas" means Qantas Airways Limited and excludes all subsidiaries.