Jake Nelson

The planned industrial action, starting at 6am Wednesday, will affect ramp, cargo and baggage handling across Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory, and comes after 98 per cent of workers voted in favour of strikes in a ballot filed in October.

Under the in-principle agreement, cabin crew at Altara and Team Jetstar who work with directly-hired crew will see an average annual pay increase of $7,128 and $7,025 respectively, with Altara workers to also be paid for training and given direct employment opportunities at the airline.

Tickets are now on sale under the agreement, which was approved by the ACCC in June and sees Virgin place its VA code on trans-Tasman Air New Zealand flights originating and sold in Australia, provided Air New Zealand sets the fares.

Peter Carter, director of Carter Capner Law, said he has been helping people suffering ongoing injuries from the crash including PTSD, and urged anyone affected – including bystanders and first responders – to submit claims by Christmas or risk missing the 2 January deadline.

Qantas has a lot of influence in Australian business and politics – but perhaps should be more judicious about how it uses it.

The airport will see a number of new international routes commence in coming months, including a seasonal Cathay Pacific service to Hong Kong on 17 December, a Jetstar route to Christchurch, and a Fiji Airways route to Nadi, both starting in April.