Jake Nelson

A spokesperson for Virgin confirmed to Australian Aviation that the carrier will fly five times per week from Brisbane to Port Vila, up from twice per week, for the remainder of May and June at the request of the Australian government. Virgin is the only other airline to fly from Australia to Vanuatu.

Coal miner Glencore and gold miner Newmont have signed on for contract extensions of three and five years respectively for Alliance’s FIFO operations, which serve Glencore’s mine at Emerald, Queensland, and Newmont’s mine at Tanami in the Northern Territory.

A station could be built on existing land that was planned to house it in the 1980s, said Avalon CEO Tony Brun, who added that the airport already owns the necessary land and is willing to chip in money to support the project. According to Brun, a rail link would be “transformative” for the airport.

Airstrips in remote communities across the Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and NSW will be given grants of $5,000 to $3 million to upgrade their facilities by 2026 as part of the government’s Remote Airstrip Upgrade Program.

In a statement, Vanuatu’s flag carrier said the country’s government is considering putting the airline into voluntary administration, with Ernst & Young called in to offer advice. Air Vanuatu codeshares with Qantas on services between the island nation and Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

A model aircraft store has told Australian Aviation it has seen a surge in demand since the stricken airline called in administrators last week, with a significant portion of sales from the carrier’s base on the Sunshine Coast.