With an estimated million-plus Australians heading to the UK this year, don’t pack your Samsonite without knowing about a new ETA travel hoop to jump through. I have written before about the introduction of the ETA for the United Kingdom, but here is a reminder. A £10 UK welcome fee!...

Currently in administration, Regional Express (REX) is also being sued by ASIC (Australian Securities and Investment Commission) for behaviour that breached directors’ duties. We now know some more details through court document filings. ASIC’s accusation of deceitful conduct Executive chairman Lim Kim Hai is accused of drafting a misleading statement...

Cirium is an aviation data provider that has just released a report about airline and airportse including on-time performance. This data is more interesting than the data released by the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) because it has international scope, allowing comparisons between Australian airlines and the best worldwide...

Cast your mind back to news reports of a flight turnback of a Malaysian Airlines A330 on the afternoon of 14, 2023. Flight MH122 was one-and-a-half hours into its flight to Pakistan via Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Muscat in Oman. The aircraft was carrying 199 passengers, with a passenger...

International travel activity at airports is an often forgotten indicator of the health or otherwise of the airline industry. With most of Australia’s major capital city airports in private hands, we have to rely on their peak bodies’ observations rather than what they tell the Australian Stock Exchange. Simon Weserway,...

On Sunday 5 January 2025, Etihad Airways flight EY461 was taking off from Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport. It was heading for Abu Dhabi as its destination when the takeoff was aborted. The incident occurred at around 7 p.m. Pilots slammed on the brakes of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner late in the...

The December 29, 2024, mysterious crash of Jeju Air Flight 2216 at Muan International Airport in South Korea resulted in 179 fatalities out of 181 occupants. Sequence of events for Jeju Air Flight 2216 The flight originated from Bangkok, Thailand, with Muan International Airport in Korea as its destination. During...

The staff of Virgin Australia doing an ‘overnight’ in Nadi, Fiji, was reportedly robbed and assaulted in two incidents in the early hours of 1 January 2025. Details are sketchy, but a person known to the Fijian police has now been questioned as part of ongoing investigations. Airline support staff...

With 2024 about to end, it is time to look at what might await the Australian airline industry in 2025. We have some things to look forward to. Greener skies ahead in 2025 Good news for those who care about the planet—airlines are stepping up their game regarding sustainability. In...

On Christmas Day, December 25, 2024, Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan. The Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190AR aircraft, registered as 4K-AZ65, was on a routine flight that was diverted due to a reported ‘bird strike’. The accident resulted in 38 fatalities and 29 survivors from a total of...

Since we are currently in peak air travel season, the dropping of this draft Airline Passenger Charter is timely. It’s also peak season for delays and cancellations, which disastrously impacts travel plans. In a move that surprises absolutely no one, the Australian Government has decided not to follow the European...

The Airport at Port Vila, Vanuatu’s capital, has reopened to commercial flights from Sunday, 22 December. The airport has only been able to handle emergency flights since last Tuesday’s magnitude 7.3 earthquake. The quake resulted in 16 deaths and injured over 200 people. It also caused extensive damage to the...