Jake Nelson

The legislation, approved by the Senate on Thursday after passing the House last week, introduces steeper penalties for airlines that “misuse” takeoff slots, compels carriers to increase transparency about their slot use, and creates a “recovery period” after significant disruptions.

Painted in the airline’s updated orange-tail livery, as seen on its A321neo LR fleet, the 188-seat VH-A5A is the first of five A320neos slated to arrive by the end of the 2025 financial year and will be based in Melbourne.

The route, first launched in 2022, will operate twice weekly on Thursdays and Sundays from 23 January to the end of April, using 34-seater Saab 340B+ aircraft.

Starting in the upcoming northern summer season, commencing 30 March, the SQ254 service on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays will depart Darwin at 1:55am, arriving in Singapore at 5:10am local time, which the airline says will enable better connectivity.

The independent audit of domestic slots found that airlines are not scheduling more flights than they can service with their existing fleets, and that slot usage in Sydney has dramatically improved since the pandemic, with non-utilisation going from 17.8 per cent in 2022 to 8.1 per cent this year.

The low-cost carrier will operate three A320 flights per week from 2 July to 24 October 2025, for a total of more than 18,000 seats during the winter season.