Jake Nelson

The Gulf carrier will end its daily flights from Melbourne to Singapore on 30 March next year, with flight number EK404/405 – to be reassigned to a 777-300ER service, which will operate non-stop to Dubai instead of travelling via Singapore.

According to data released by Flight Centre’s Corporate Traveller division, corporate travel to regional Australia increased by 13 per cent year on year in the September 2024 quarter, with Mackay, Newcastle, Cairns, Townsville, and the Gold Coast among the top regional destinations.

The Flying Kangaroo expects to deliver more than 50,000 tonnes of international and domestic freight over the holiday season, with its domestic freighter fleet to fly around 550 additional hours across November and December, adding 3,000 tonnes of domestic capacity.

Andrew Warrender, currently the airport’s executive manager for aviation and air freight business development, will fill the role being vacated by outgoing CEO Dr Peter Cock from 9 January.

Flight DL93 arrived in Brisbane from Los Angeles at 7:18am on Friday aboard N522DZ, an A350-900 painted in Delta’s 2028 Olympic Games livery. The service, announced in February, will operate three times per week and is anticipated to deliver more than 271,000 seats over three years.

A new campaign, which features disability rights campaigner Shane Hryhorec as well as support from Sophie Morgan of Rights on Flights, looks to raise awareness of “systemic issues in air travel that result in mistreatment, discrimination, and dangerous situations for disabled passengers”.