Jake Nelson

Parker, who served as Qantas’ chief sustainability officer for three years before his departure in 2024, previously worked as a senior vice president at Emirates covering areas such as international affairs and environment.

Flight QF643 took off from Sydney at around 8:45am aboard the 13-year-old 737-800 VH-VZV, but landed again after circling the airport. The aircraft was able to land safely and taxi back to the gate, with no smoke having entered the cabin.

The Queensland grants come after the federal government has so far poured more than $17 million into regional airports across NSW, Victoria and Western Australia, also as part of the fourth round of the Regional Airports Program.

Over 250 crew members, including pilots, cabin crew, operational staff, and engineers, will work on the regional, domestic and international Qantas and Jetstar services across Australia, New Zealand and Asia, with the first, a Jetstar Adelaide–Sydney service, taking off on Monday morning.

The regional Queensland airline, which was last year purchased by global aviation firm Avia Solutions Group, received its first A319, registered VH-L7A, in mid-December. Its second – to be registered VH-L7C – arrived at the end of last month.

The two Sydney-bound flights from Melbourne and Brisbane on Friday were crewed entirely by LGBTQIA+ staff members and allies, including both flight and cabin crews, and featured mid-air DJ entertainment and drag performances.