By aviation writer Scott Mayman

Virgin has toppled Qantas for the title of Australia’s most reliable major domestic carrier, according to new figures.

For nearly two years Virgin has lagged behind the Qantas for on-time departures, on-time arrivals and cancellations.

But not anymore. According to the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics, Virgin recorded 82.1 per cent on-time departures, 81.2 per cent on-time arrivals and 1.7 per cent cancellations for the month of April.

Qantas fell below with 79.9 per cent on-time departures, 79 per cent on-time arrivals and 2.3 per cent cancellations across its Qantas and QantasLink network.

Virgin also beat Rex’s 80.7 per cent on-time arrivals, however, on-time departures for Rex came ahead of Virgin at 83.3 per cent and cancellations at 1 per cent.

But it was a very bad month for Jetstar with a return to bottom place – 72.7 per cent on-time departures and 74.9 per cent on-time arrivals.

However, it was slightly better than Qantas when it came to cancellations, coming in at 2.2 per cent.