Liquidator Ernst & Young (EY) Australia, which was called in after the airline collapsed in May, said domestic flights will be back “in the short term”, with no timing as of yet for the return of international operations.

A government source this week confirmed to The Australian that plans to make the Ghost Bat a “killer drone” had been shelved after manufacturer Boeing lost out on a US program to make autonomous combat jets.

An international participant is safe and well after ejecting from their aircraft on Wednesday during flying operations, according to a statement issued by Defence.

VH-HJE ran out of fuel en route from Bankstown to Archerfield on 7 April 2023 on the return leg of a freight charter flight, the ATSB said in its final report. It struck multiple trees on its way down, sustaining “substantial” damage but inflicting only “very minor injuries” to the pilot.

Flight NZ1995, named for the New Zealand Warriors’ inaugural year, was available as part of a package deal including tickets to four rugby games to be held in Vegas early next year. Tickets went on sale at 11am New Zealand time on Wednesday and were gone just over a quarter of an hour later.

Virgin announced this week it would drop the underperforming Cairns–Haneda service from 24 February and reassign its 737 MAX 8s to domestic flights.