DRW → CNSDarwin to Cairns

live

Direct flights from Darwin (DRW) to Cairns (CNS): 7 nonstop departures observed each week across 1 airline. No cancellations were recorded across the 9 tracked flights. The nonstop covers 1,675 km, an estimated 2 hours 39 minutes in the air. Measured by Pro Flight Search from live flight boards at Darwin and Cairns. Updated 6 November 2026 at 06:07 UTC.

Today, DRW → CNS

Fri 6 Nov · local times
  1. 07:05 QF1895Qantas Left 06:53 CNS 10:05In the air · scheduled landing

Checked DRW board 15:37 · CNS board 15:48

DRW Darwin busy · +25
CNS Cairns smooth · +7
1,675 km · ~2h 39m est.
departs 07:057x weekly
Running clean · 1 airline · 7x weekly · nonstop
77 / 100

route health from live DRW and CNS delay boards

0 of 9 tracked legs cancelled in the sample. Will a delayed flight be cancelled? →

Flight time~2h 39mestimated from route distance
Weekly departures7x1 direct airline on the leg

The week

scheduled departures · origin local time
06121824
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Qantas Airways

Each mark is a scheduled departure at its origin-local time, observed operating in the last 7 days. Today is highlighted.

Who flies it

observed on the boards · 7 days
Qantas AirwaysQF

Flights QF1895 07:05 daily

History

operated legs · board outcomes
11-06QF1895departed−12
11-05QF1895departed+151
11-04QF1895departed−14
11-04QF6283departed−16
11-03QF1895departed−11
11-02QF1895departed−10
11-01QF1895departed−10
10-31QF1895departed+0
10-30QF1895departed−5

Actual board outcomes rather than schedules, paired departure and arrival per flight and day.

Full board history, day by day →

Airports right now

live boards
DRWDarwin +25 min busy 🌤 clear · NNW 8 kt Full DRW delay board →
CNSCairns +7 min smooth 🌤 clear · N 9 kt Full CNS delay board →

Weather lens

Conditions are tightest at CNS: a 26% chance of a 15+ minute delay. In this weather, the more delayed of the two airports is typically about +3 min. Both figures come from the two airports' delay records in similar weather. See live delays → · Weather risk by airport →

How the Darwin to Cairns route actually runs

Pro Flight Search records official board updates for nonstop DRW to CNS flights through the day: schedules, estimates, gate pushes and actual departures. The verdict above comes from operated flights, so it reflects what this route does rather than what the timetable promises.

Planning around a delay? Live airport delays · Weather delay risk map · Will a delayed flight be cancelled? · Do planes make up time in the air? · How we measure

Cite this data

Journalists, bloggers, and researchers may cite this page with attribution and a link to Pro Flight Search.

Suggested citation

Pro Flight Search: Darwin (DRW) to Cairns (CNS) route reliability, measured from operated flights on official airport boards.

Canonical URL
https://proflightsearch.com/search-flights/DRW-CNS
How we measure this →

DRW to CNS questions

Is DRW–CNS running on time right now?

Mostly on schedule. The departure side at DRW is the weaker end, route health score 77/100. The airports section above carries the live status and delay window at both ends.

How long is the flight from DRW to CNS?

Great-circle distance is 1,675 km. With typical jet cruise speed plus taxi, climb and descent, expect roughly 148–174 min gate-to-gate on this route.

How often does DRW–CNS fly?

Qantas Airways runs the route with about 7 flights a week (daily). Since one carrier owns the route, a single disruption tends to ripple through the day.

What does the route health score measure?

A blend of departure-side delay at DRW and arrival-side delay at CNS, computed from rolling delay windows (refreshed every 40 minutes) with a daily-rollup fallback. Current MVFR, IFR, or LIFR endpoint weather caps the score when flight rules can limit throughput. Higher is healthier: 100 means operations are clean at both ends.