Jake Nelson

A19-077 operated the final display flight from Point Cook last month, marking what Defence describes as “the end of an aircraft type that quietly shaped generations of military air power”.

The carrier, which had planned to launch from Western Sydney International Airport (WSI) with a fleet of all Airbus A320neo family aircraft, has conceded it may need to consider older A320ceo (current engine option) planes as part of its fleet mix.

Taking place at RAAF Bases Darwin and Tindal from 6 to 17 July, Exercise Southern Cross 26 “seeks to practice operating as a trilateral task force within a contemporary, high-end, warfighting environment”, according to a statement from Defence.

In its From Paddock to Plane: Feedstock White Paper, produced as part of its work with the Jet Zero Council, GrainCorp has said that existing feedstocks could support SAF production equal to around 117 per cent of Australia’s projected 2030 jet fuel demand.

Delays stretched from 30 minutes to an hour as at 9am on Sunday, though Airservices said the issues, caused by “short notice unplanned leave”, were resolved by 11:30am. Civil Air, however, said it “emphatically rejects” the claims around leave.

ZK-NZD flew out of Alice Springs on 28 June, having been in long-term storage since September while its Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines were repaired, and operated its first commercial flight since last August on 30 June as NZ8 from Auckland to San Francisco.