Jake Nelson

ZK-NZH was the first 787-9 Dreamliner in the world to undergo a full nose-to-tail refit, said Air New Zealand, with an entirely new cabin interior installed, including redesigned economy and premium economy seats and an updated business cabin with the new Business Premier Luxe product.

Boeing shares slumped as much as 2.5 per cent in response to the news, with Bloomberg reporting that “people familiar with the matter” say the order is in response to Trump’s imposition of tariffs of up to 145 per cent on Chinese goods.

According to the latest BITRE data, 4.37 million international passengers travelled through Australian airports in January this year, 5.3 per cent higher than the previous monthly peak in January 2020.

The addition of the 20-metre aerobridge comes as the airport says it will open the new terminal in four months’ time. The multi-million-dollar upgrades were originally slated to be completed last year, but were delayed to this year due to “supply chain issues”.

Exercise Sea Dragon 25 in March saw Australia work with military contingents such as the US Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Republic of Korea Navy and Indian Navy to practice co-ordinated anti-sub warfare, including joint P-8A Poseidon aircraft sorties with US forces.

While routes, aircraft, and other details have yet to be confirmed, the news means that Qantas Domestic will not operate major capital city routes out of WSI from the start, likely leaving those services to Jetstar and possibly to QantasLink’s growing A220 fleet.