Jake Nelson

VH-VYH (similar aircraft pictured) was taking off for flight QF520 to Brisbane on 8 November when its right-hand engine malfunctioned with a loud bang, sending hot metal fragments into the grass near the runway.

The Federal Court on Thursday granted EY’s application, which will see the firm stay on as administrator for the regional airline until 30 June 2025. The news comes after the federal government aided Rex with $80 million in financing to keep its planes flying.

Qantas and QantasLink services saw a 74.7 per cent on-time arrival and 75.4 per cent on-time departure rate for October 2024, according to the latest BITRE data, compared to 70.9 per cent on-time arrivals and 71 per cent on-time departures for the Virgin Australia network.

The new strategic alliance will see Archerfield Airport Corporation (AAC) and Wisk Aero collaborate on “a variety of projects” to boost the AAM ecosystem and operations at Archerfield, the largest corporate and general aviation airport in Queensland.

Works will begin next year on the T2 domestic terminal, which houses Virgin Australia, Jetstar, and regional airlines, and are expected to take until the end of 2026. They will include new security scanning systems, improved bag drop, and more self-service kiosks.

Speaking at the Australian Airports Association conference in Brisbane, Hrdlicka said Virgin operating its own long-haul international services would be “at least six or seven years away”, but that the wet-lease arrangement would likely see Virgin pilots and cabin crew working on Qatar flights.