Jake Nelson

The inaugural EK440 service touched down in Adelaide just before 9pm Monday night on the 302-seater 777-200LR A6-EWJ, with the service expected to add more than 4,200 seats per week, or around 220,400 seats per year, between Adelaide and the important Gulf travel hub.

The financial results came as Perth Airport exceeded its pre-pandemic capacity for the 2023–24 financial year and resolved a long-standing dispute with Qantas over the airline’s move to the Airport Central precinct.

Australia’s largest international gateway saw a total of 10.3 million passengers for the quarter, up 3.3 per cent on the same period in 2023 but still only 92.5 per cent of 2019 levels.

VH-X4A arrived in the northern NSW leisure destination at 6:38pm on Sunday as flight QF1298. The A220s are enabling Qantas to resume five weekly flights between Melbourne and Coffs Harbour, up from a temporary reduction to two weekly flights in June.

The seasonal service is the second American Airlines route currently operating into Australia alongside Sydney to Los Angeles, and will start at five flights per week before ramping up to daily services from December to the end of March.

Toll, owned by Japan Post, already operates helicopter air ambulance services for NSW and the ACT, with the confirmation of the previously-rumoured acquisition adding NSW and Victoria’s fixed-wing services to its stable.