Jake Nelson

The new $500 million baggage system, slated to be up and running in early 2026, will use totes, electronic sorting, and an early bag store capable of holding around 1,400 pieces of luggage at a time to increase capacity and enable real-time bag tracking from the moment of check-in.

Operating over the winter and spring months from 22 June to 23 October 2026, the service will fly three times per week on A320neo aircraft, offering a total of 17,560 additional seats between Queensland and the South Island.

Speaking at the meeting on Friday, CEO Dave Emerson said the airline had seen a successful 2025 financial year, with 20.7 million customers flown and a statutory net profit after tax of $479 million, and that trading for 2026 to date is in line with its expectations.

Speaking at The Australian Financial Review’s Infrastructure Summit in Sydney, Rob Sharp said Australia’s air traffic management provider, which has been actively recruiting over the past few years, is in better shape in terms of workforce than Europe and the US.

Both airports have reached level 5 carbon accreditation, which requires “maintaining a Net Zero carbon balance on Scopes 1 and 2, and actively addressing Scope 3 emissions sources”. It comes after Adelaide last December became the first major Australian airport to achieve carbon neutrality.

The first of the upgraded helicopters, VH-LF3, touched down in Mount Isa this week, with LifeFlight chief executive Ashley van de Velde saying the AW139 is the perfect search and rescue aircraft to cover the long distances in the region.