Year: 2026

Economy Plus seats are now on sale for equipped Boeing 737-800, Airbus A321XLR, and A220-300 aircraft operating domestic and short-haul international services. The first flights with the new product – which competes with Virgin’s Economy X – will take off on 6 February.

In a recent article, scientists from Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation said the Airbus software update in November, which was rolled out in response to solar radiation causing dangerous glitches, highlights the financial risks to aviation of space weather events.

The two organisations have signed another agreement that will see several cohorts of Airservices trainees travel to Christchurch for instruction over the next 12 months. It comes as Airservices faces scrutiny over recent staff shortages, and plans to endorse 95 new controllers in 2026.

The seasonal service will initially fly three times per week starting 21 June using 286-seat A350-900 aircraft, each with around 15 tonnes of freight capacity. Flights will pause from 2 August to “early 2027”, when the airline will finish its first season.

Flight QF281 departed Brisbane at 9:13am on Monday on board VH-X4D, touching down in Wellington at 3:11pm local time. Services will operate up to three times per week, replacing the E190s and some 737-800s previously on the route.

Six F-35A Lightning IIs and an E-7A Wedgetail were deployed to the desert state along with over 200 aviators to support Exercise Red Flag Nellis and Exercise Bamboo Eagle with the United States and United Kingdom.