Usually predicted for February or March each year, Qantas is offering a double status credits of points promotion for bookings made between now and Thursday 31 October for travel between 1 November 2024 to 19 October 2025. Qantas has been shovelling out a number of announcements before its AGM on...

Qantas is trialling a digital version of the Australia Travel Declaration card on select routes to from New Zealand. In this joint initiative with the Australian Government, Qantas passengers arriving in Australia from New Zealand will experience this new fast-track arrival process. Qantas is piloting the new Australia Digital Travel...

The Federal Court of Australia has provided a judgement on three ground-handling employees illegally sacked by Qantas in 2019. The court has already determined that the sacking was illegal. This decision is a ‘test case’ to determine how much the 1,700 workers will be compensated for the illegal action. Punitive...

Virgin Australia today released details of changes to its Velocity Frequent Flyer program. Some come into effect immediately, and some in October 2025. Unsurprisingly, most changes are adverse for Frequent Flyers. Status earned will now be based on what you spend instead of a combination of where you travel and...

Qantas is shaking things up internationally from February 2025. It is shuffling around the timings of some routes to make aircraft use more efficient and increase capacity on some routes because of the return to air of two A380s. It’s also launching a new route to the Pacific, with flights...

Over the last few days, some of Virgin Australia’s (VA) finances have been reported publicly. VA does not need to conform to the strict accounting and reporting strictures of companies listed on the Australia Securities Exchange (ASX), so it can be more selective about what it reports. Virgin revealed on...

Qantas has been trying to reform the damage it self-inflicted on its reputation with everything from better food to more recognition on board for frequent flyer status. Then it goes and pisses it all against the wall with more punishing flight change fees. Fortunately, it has seen the folly of...

Everything old is new again. Thai Airways has a reputation for having the most diverse fleet around. Different aircraft, with different seats, and a habit of plane substitution at the last minute. Thai used to have Premium Economy on some of its Boeing 777s and Airbus A340s, and it was...

Alan Joyce has retained not just one, but two public relations flacks to handle the expected reputational damage from Joe Aston’s forthcoming book, ‘The Chairman’s Lounge: The inside story of how Qantas sold us out’ (Simon & Schuster), according to a story in the AFR. To say I was awaiting...

Tokyo has two commercial airports: Haneda, which is closer to the city, and Narita, which is further away. Narita is seen as the most appealing airport because of its proximity to Tokyo. However, it also has a paucity of vacant slots, so they are much harder to obtain. Qantas flies...

Yesterday ( Monday, 30 September) saw the takeoff of the first-ever Qantas A380 flight to South Africa. The flight will also reintroduce First Class to the route, last seen in 2018. This represents a big increase in seats available on the route, some 130,000 per year, a near doubling of...

Qatar Airways gets its additional flights into Australia via wet leasing to Virgin Australia. Virgin Australia will now return to long-haul international flying when Qatar Airways takes up a 25% stake in the airline. Bain Capital, the current majority owner, now gets a partial payday from its investment in Virgin...