Jake Nelson

The multi-million-dollar upgrades originally planned for completion this year, which will overhaul the international terminal including passenger and border processing facilities to better support overseas flights, have been set back due in part to “supply chain issues”, airport management said in a statement just before the new year.

Three 737 MAX 8s and one 737-800 leased to Flair from a trio of Ireland-based lessors were repossessed last March over unpaid fees, which reportedly resulted in 777 Partners sending planes that had been earmarked for Bonza to Flair in order to make up the shortfall.

Airservices figures showed 2,645 regular passenger transport (RPT) flights on 22 December, with 1,959 domestic and 686 international flights, the highest daily figure since 26 September 2019. On average, December 2023 saw 3,546 passenger flights per day, 97 per cent of 2019 levels.

In its latest Network Overview report for December 2023, the body responsible for air traffic control in Australia acknowledged that 16 per cent of ground delays last month were attributable to Airservices, up from 11 per cent in October and November.

More than 170 MAX 9s operated in US airspace or by US carriers are still grounded for safety inspections, with United and Alaska Airlines – the two major carriers that operate the aircraft – both reporting finding loose bolts.

The crash of VH-XWD on 31 March 2022, which killed all five people on board and was labelled “among the worst in Victoria’s history”, was a result of the pilot inadvertently flying into weather conditions that required instruments despite operating under visual flight rules (VFR).