Jake Nelson

The aircraft, which will replace Virgin Australia Regional Airlines’ (VARA) ageing Fokker 100s, will be laid out in a dual-class configuration with business and economy seats, as well as its extra-legroom Economy X product. The first of its eight E190-E2s has begun construction this month.

The 2025–26 budget papers, released this week, note that “in the event there is no sale, the government will undertake work on contingency options in consultation with relevant states, including preparations necessary for potential Australian government acquisition of Rex”.

The latest BITRE performance data showed more than 80 per cent of all domestic flights across participating airlines departed and arrived on time last month, though this was still below long-term averages of 80.7 per cent on-time arrivals and 81.8 per cent on-time departures.

The men, at least two of whom appear to have worked for Qantas subsidiary Jets Transport Express, attempted to bring 100kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of $40 million into the country on a cargo flight from Johannesburg.

While no Qantas services have been affected, six Jetstar flights on Friday morning were cancelled and two morning Virgin Australia services – to Brisbane and Melbourne – were pushed back to the afternoon due to potential impact from the ash cloud.

Heathrow, the largest of London’s six commercial airports, will remain closed until at least 11:59pm local time on Friday, causing havoc in the surrounding airspace. At least two Qantas flights in the air have been forced to divert, while others set to depart Heathrow today will also be affected.