Year: 2023

CareFlight CEO Mick Frewen talks to the Australian Aviation Podcast on the aeromedical charity’s new electric air ambulances.

The additional flights, set to begin on 1 July, will cater for the island’s growing tourism industry as well as its scheelite mine, said CEO Alistair Dorward.

Alan Joyce quipped his airline’s flights would feature “more room and fewer seats” than “most of its competitors” and had been designed “with long-haul travel in mind”.

Dubbed ‘Monkey Mia’, the aircraft – registered VH-8IA – will fly domestically for a short period of time to obtain regulatory approval and familiarise crews before beginning flights to Tokyo, according to a Virgin Australia spokesperson.

QF3, from Sydney to New York via Auckland, took off at 9:55am on Wednesday morning aboard the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner VH-ZNL (pictured), one of Qantas’s newest aircraft, which was delivered at the end of April. The 19-hour route will operate three times weekly, increasing to four from October, with more than 1,800 seats per week.

The new wide-body aircraft – registered VH-ZNM and named ‘Mateship’ – only arrived from Boeing’s Everett factory earlier this month but has been quickly put to use.