Jake Nelson

The fees have been at the centre of a row between Auckland Airport and its airline customers, with the airport arguing that upcoming price hikes are necessary to fund the NZ$3.9 billion integration of its domestic and international terminals.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said a Coalition government would take $2.2 billion pledged to the SRL, which he labelled a “cruel hoax” that will “never be delivered”, as well as $2 billion for upgrades to Sunshine Station, and tip $1.5 billion into the long-delayed airport rail.

Wombat Groundways, the brainchild of maverick businessman Mark Supial, has announced it will launch services using leased jets on the “Golden Triangle” from 2026. Uniquely, rather than flying, the carrier will drive its aircraft entirely on the ground using existing roadway infrastructure.

Sampson, who was brought on by then-chair Leigh Clifford in 2015, will exit the Flying Kangaroo almost two years after surviving a vote to remove him at the group’s 2023 AGM.

Baltimore FW282, which had been operated by the RAAF’s 454 Squadron and crewed by officers from Australia, New Zealand and the UK, was found last year in 61 metres of water by Greek technical diving group AegeanTec. The RAAF has now publicly confirmed the plane’s identity.

Speaking to media in Hamburg, Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson confirmed that the Airbus planes, which will have extra fuel tanks to give them the range to reach London and New York from Australia’s east coast without refuelling, will arrive “at the end of 2026”.