Jake Nelson

The Kiwi carrier is rolling out what it bills as its “Seats to Suit” program, which it says will offer simpler and more flexible fare choices starting from 11 June. The airline will discontinue its seat plus bag option, with seat-only customers now able to add a bag for $30.

VH-EBN (pictured) is the first of Qantas’ A330-200LR aircraft to be upgraded with Viasat-capable wi-fi antennae, and is expected to finish its three-week retrofitting this week. The remainder of Qantas’ international widebody fleet will be progressively refitted over the next couple of years.

The tracker, which shows approximate wait times for security at all three terminals, refreshes every 60 seconds and will allow passengers to plan their arrival at the airport ahead of time. It comes as the March quarter delivers a 93.7 per cent post-COVID passenger recovery compared to Q1 2019.

While all Gold Coast routes will continue to fly, some will see services as infrequently as once per week, though Albury, Darwin and Rockhampton will see no change to frequency. Bonza is currently flying its own aircraft from the Gold Coast, with both its dry-leased Flair planes otherwise occupied.

The next phase of the “Bring on Wonderful” campaign comes not long after Virgin brought all its international baggage handling in-house and rolled out its app-based baggage tracking system nationwide.

National Jet Express will operate a weekly charter flight using its Dash 8-400NG aircraft from Brisbane to Orange, in the NSW Central West, for mining and civil contractor SEE Civil. It will be the eighth destination for NJE on the east coast since it began Queensland operations last July.