Cairns to Canberra runs about 3 times a day, with the first departure around 07:30 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays €194.25, every fee included. The fastest door to door is 7h 58m over 2,510 km, on services run by 5 operators across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
Every operator we hold on this corridor starts at €194.25, so there is no spread to show.
Typical fares · Priced for 12 October 2026
€194.25
- 263%Moves across the booking window
263%When it runs, leaving Cairns
Typical first and last departure on this corridor.
- 07:30First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 3Services per day
- 0%Run direct
07:30
07:30
3
0%Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €728.79Thu24
- about €477.45Fri25
- about €474.50Sat26
- about €361.22Sun27
- about €341.16Mon28
- about €338.80Tue29
- about €350.60Wed30
- about €356.50Thu1
- about €286.29Fri2
- about €365.35Sat3
- about €302.22Sun4
- about €267.41Mon5
- about €221.98Tue6
- about €254.43Wed7
- about €298.68Thu8
- about €229.65Fri9
- about €233.19Sat10
- about €229.06Sun11
- about €194.25Mon12
- about €223.75Tue13
- about €209.59Wed14
Based on what this route has cost recently. The live fare is confirmed when you book.
The flight gets you into Canberra. These two partners take it from there, and the bed is theirs to book.
A room in Canberra for the night the flight gets in
Sort by distance from Canberra railway station and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Canberra on AgodaOr compare on Booking.com
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When to book Cairns to Canberra
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €201.9290 days
- €200.7460 days
- €222.5745 days
- €214.3130 days
- €209.5921 days
- €254.4314 days
- €350.607 days
- €474.503 days
- €728.791 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €200.74.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 263 percent. The dearest point is €728.79, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 60 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Cairns to Canberra and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
2,510 km
2,069 km as the crow flies, 21% further by the route services take. The bearing runs south.
Who lives at each end
153,075 → 367,752
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
The route
What the journey looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 0% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 100% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 2,510 km against 2,069 km in a straight line, a detour of 21 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney. The gap between arriving and leaving is 52 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 18 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
Who runs this route
The flight gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Left luggage near Canberra railway station
Most of the points near Canberra railway station open before the first train and shut after the last one.
Check Canberra on StasherOr try Bounce
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Questions about Cairns to Canberra
The questions people actually ask about this journey, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Cairns to Canberra?
The fastest journey from Cairns to Canberra takes 7h 58m door to door, of which 4h 5m is spent moving, on the flight. Most services take around 8h 59m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Cairns to Canberra?
The cheapest fare from Cairns to Canberra is €194.25, as of 23 September 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €330.54. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Cairns to Canberra?
The cheapest way from Cairns to Canberra is by flight, at €194.25 for one passenger on 12 October 2026. That journey takes 8h 7m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
When should I book Cairns to Canberra?
Fares from Cairns to Canberra bottom out around 60 days before departure, at €200.74. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the dearest lead time is 263 percent, measured on 23 September 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Cairns to Canberra?
Tuesday is the cheapest day to depart from Cairns to Canberra, at €223.75. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of 23 September 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Cairns to Canberra?
February is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from Cairns to Canberra, at €172.42 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs services from Cairns to Canberra?
5 operators sell services from Cairns to Canberra across 1 mode: Alliance Airlines, Cathay Pacific, NSW TrainLink, Tiger Airways Australia, Virgin Australia. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Cairns to Canberra?
0 percent of the services we sell from Cairns to Canberra are direct. The rest connect at Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, with about 52 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from Cairns to Canberra use?
Services from Cairns to Canberra by flight leave from Cairns International Airport CNS and arrive at Canberra Airport CBR. Allow about 3h 10m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Cairns to Canberra?
1 of the 5 operators we sell from Cairns to Canberra allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Observed service A carrier record names this operator on this pair, carried through unchanged.
Prices come from the supplier wherever we hold a live quote. Elsewhere we show an indicative price built from the real distance, the real operator and a fare curve over lead time, day of the week and season. Those are labelled Estimated fare and cannot be booked.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Cairns to Canberra on 23 September 2026: 2510 km of route against 2069 km in a straight line, 3 services a day, 5 operators a cheapest fare of €194.25, and 7h 58m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
The flight is the simple part. What you do once you are in Canberra is somebody else's catalogue.
Day trips out of Canberra and across Australia
Day trips that leave Canberra in the morning and cover a good part of Australia by evening.
See Canberra on KlookOr browse GetYourGuide
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The two ends, compared
Cairns reaches 29 places in 10 countries on services we hold, over distances from 273 to 7,639 km. Canberra reaches 25 places in 3 countries, from 187 to 10,354 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Cairns
- 29Places you can leave for
- 10Countries
- 12Operators
10
12Arriving in Canberra
Leaving Canberra
- 25Places you can leave for
- 3Countries
- 7Operators