Year: 2023

The announcement comes after Rex’s deputy chairman, John Sharp, quipped he “can’t imagine” why anyone would fly the airline’s upcoming route between Coffs Harbour and the Sunshine Coast.

The long-planned move follows Sydney Airport’s CEO claiming this month that the domestic aviation recovery has been “stagnant” since April last year and appearing to blame airlines for holding back capacity.

More than 1,500 FAAA members voted in favour of the agreement that will only increase work hours from 9.45 to 10 hours – rather than the 12 hours sought by the Flying Kangaroo. Rest periods will also be maintained.

The two-year-old A380, A6-EVS, departed the NSW capital at 10:01 am as flight EK412 and touched down on the South Island at 2:39 pm. It will later continue on to Dubai.  

The new A330 service operates four times a week and now travels to the closer Haneda Airport rather than its pre-COVID destination of Narita.

A safety investigation has revealed it took air traffic control 15 minutes to provide a forecast for an alternate airport to land at – a crucial delay that made a diversion impossible.