Reading Time: 3 minutes Australia and New Zealand’s major airlines today announced the establishment of a new industry group to advocate and pursue reform on public policy issues that impact the aviation sector and broader economy in the region. Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ) will enable Air New Zealand, the Qantas Group, Regional Express Holdings and the […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute Tigerair Australia has communicated that it will permanently discontinue its Australia to Denpasar Bali flights. Virgin Australia’s wholly owned subsidiary was forced to suspend flights earlier in January at the request of the Indonesian authorities due to licencing issues. Tigerair used Virgin Australia 737 aircraft for the services from Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth to Australia. […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute From the sky to the grocery aisle, two of Australia’s biggest loyalty programs, flybuys and Velocity Frequent Flyer, are teaming up. Under a new partnership launched today, Coles customers will earn frequent flyer points with Virgin Australia. As well as points, the airline-retailer deal will also include status credits, meaning shoppers will be able to […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute Passengers faced lengthy delays at Dunedin Airport yesterday, after a crack was discovered in the windscreen of a Virgin Australia flight bound for Brisbane. An airline spokeswoman confirmed a “minor crack” was found in the aircraft’s windscreen during a pre-flight check on the tarmac. It was believed the damage occurred on the ground after the […]

Reading Time: 3 minutes Pilots and air traffic controller groups have called for new Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) regulations on the use of remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) to be thrown out due to safety concerns. Under new rules that came into effect from Thursday, commercial operators of RPAs, or drones, weighing less than two kilograms did not have […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute Etihad Airways will add three weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and Sydney to operate a double-daily schedule from 6 February 2017. The morning departure from Abu Dhabi – EY450 – and the afternoon departure from Sydney – EY451 – will increase from four to seven flights per week. This enhancement to the airline’s Sydney schedule […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute Virgin Australia will post an annual loss of $224.7 million due to the impairments and charges it expects to record from its plans to position the airline for future profitability. Australia’s second biggest carrier reports its full year results on August 5, but in a fourth quarter trading update has warned of the impact of […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute Chinese conglomerate HNA has extended its CHF1.4 billion ($1.4 billion) offer for the Zurich-based airline catering company Gategroup. By the end of the initial acceptance period, HNA had originally acquired 63.6% of ownership of Gategroup. In April, HNA had said the deal for the Swiss company required a 67% buy-in. This minimum has now been […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia today announced a partnership to investigate options for locally produced aviation biofuel. The trans-Tasman alliance partners are issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to the market to explore the opportunity to procure locally-produced aviation biofuel. Air New Zealand Chief Flight Operations and Safety Officer Captain David Morgan says the […]

Reading Time: < 1 minute A security hoax has forced a Virgin Australia flight bound for Los Angeles to divert to Brisbane before it was searched by Australian Federal Police. The Boeing 777 left Sydney at 11am on Wednesday for the Californian destination, but landed in Brisbane four hours after departure over a safety threat understood to be a hoax. […]