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...

Technical issues with supplier Viasat are believed to be at the core of the delayed roll out of WiFi on Qantas international flights. WiFi on board Qantas international flights was promised for late 2024. With days to go, this is not going to happen. 2025 is the earliest Qantas will...

Aeroroutes is reporting that Oman Air has applied to return flying to Singapore. The application for the Muscat—Singapore service is to commence in September of 2025. Oman Air has been working on its destination and codesharing agreements recently. It has also applied to fly to Athens, increased its Moscow service,...

The new version of the Apple iOS, v 18.2 allows users to share a secure link with the location of an AirTag with others, including airlines — well, in the near future. Find My, your luggage The changes to the ‘Find My’ app mean you can easily share the location...

The Qantas at Adelaide Airport is rebuilding its entire Qantas Club precinct. Formerly a combined Business and Club and a separate Chairman’s lounge. When the building work is complete, it will become a Qantas Club, Business Lounge, and Chairman’s Lounge, all led by resident Qantas design lead David Caon. The...

1800 illegally sacked workers will be paid AU$120 million to settle a compensation claim over the illegal sacking of ground staff in 2020. Qantas resisted right up to the High Court before it agreed to the payments under new CEO Vanessa Hudson. The amount of compensation was negotiated between Qantas...

The inaugural flight HO1669 by Juneyao Air between Shanghai and Sydney on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner arrived yesterday, 17 December 2024. This is the first of four direct services per week between Sydney and Shanghai. During the Lunar New Year period, 2025 will see this number rise to daily flights....

China Southern Airlines has returned to flying its Adelaide to Guangzhou route three times a week as a seasonal route until 1 March 2025. Discussions are underway to extend the arrangement beyond that date. This route commenced in 2016 but was abandoned during the height of the pandemic in 2020....

Some people believe this guarantee is mythical, but it seems real if you book a Q-Suites flight and an aircraft change leaves you on a flight without the renowned Business Class seats. You won’t find this guarantee on the Qatar Airways website, but you will find evidence of it in...

I think this is weird, but it’s welcome. Qatar Airways will resume daily flights to Canberra, Australia’s capital city. The flights will not be non-stop, but they will head to Doha via Melbourne. You may remember that in 2023, the Department of Transport refused Qatar’s application for additional slots at...

From Monday, 16 December 2024, you can book domestic airfares by redeeming points at Classic Plus rates. These are usually more expensive than redeeming for Classic reward rates, but not always. Qantas argues that these Classic Plus awards boost the ‘effective’ value of Qantas Points by making more seats available...

Pending final approval from regulators, we now know what the cost of long-haul international routes will be travelling on Virgin Australia, and their wet-leased aircraft via Doha. And, you can book them from today. If you remember, Virgin Australia has masterfully parlayed a proposed 25% stake by Qatar Airways, and...