Hannah Dowling

Australia’s transport safety investigator has urged the manufacturer of Cessna 210 aircraft, Textron Aviation, to address structural fatigue concerns after an in-flight breakup occurred in May 2019.

Fully vaccinated New Zealanders have been free to travel to Australia without entering two-week quarantine since 1 November, however, New Zealand is yet to reinstate the two-way travel bubble for Australians to enter.

Instead, PCR tests for interstate travel will be covered by the government under Medicare, funded jointly by the Commonwealth and the states, as has been the case for all walk-in testing clinics.

The Queensland government announced on Tuesday that from 1 January, Rex will take over the Central 1 route, connecting the regional towns of Roma and Charleville to the state’s capital of Brisbane.

Ongoing strict border rules, coupled with a slow vaccine rollout in Queensland and Western Australia will delay the recovery of Australia’s aviation and travel markets, according to the local head of Emirates.

The airline said that the slew of cancellations, which will affect in excess of 20,000 passengers in total, were necessary due to “uncertainty” over the resumption of quarantine-free trans-Tasman travel.