Like its rival Qantas, Virgin has revealed it intends to cut back on domestic capacity and increase airfares in order to stabilise operating costs and minimise damage to its balance sheet. The airline is expecting its fuel costs for the six months to December 2026 to exceed $700 million.

In a fiery statement, the union demanded Qantas “keep its commitment” over assurances it said employees had received in August that there were “no plan to offshore any Australian jobs”, and said workers “deserved an honest explanation of what had changed since then”.

The Airbus A350-1000ULR, custom-designed and built for Qantas’ Project Sunrise initiative, is undergoing test flights ahead of the first planned aircraft delivery Down Under in April 2027.

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Under the partnership, some roles will be offshored to Accenture’s teams in India, some will remain based in Australia, and others will “in time be transformed further with automation and AI”.

Following a review by air traffic management consultants Trax International, Airservices has opened the ideas for public comment. It follows the release of a Brisbane Noise Action Plan, which would reduce noise impacts from the airport for around 140,000 people, earlier this year.

QF1 and QF2, which are currently used for Sydney to London flights via Singapore, will be switched to the non-stop A350-1000ULR flights on their launch in October 2027. It comes as flight tests continue on the first Project Sunrise aircraft.

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