Jake Nelson

The carrier will begin ramping up its NZ services on 31 March, increasing frequency on popular domestic and international routes. It expects to reach 100 per cent of pre-pandemic domestic capacity by the middle of next year, with trans-Tasman routes almost 40 per cent higher than 2019 levels.

The plane, which has been painstakingly restored by the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) over the past 12 years, took off shortly after 10:30am at Shellharbour Airport and flew for roughly 15 minutes before making a successful landing.

Eight Air Force Special Operations Command personnel were killed in the crash last week, which came four months after another Osprey went down on Melville Island 60km from Darwin during Exercise Predators Run in August, killing three Marines.

The Bell 204B firefighting helicopter, registered VH-EQW, was collecting water from a dam at Tarome in south-east Queensland on 20 September when it crashed, destroying it and causing minor injuries to the pilot.

In its Australian Aviation Network Overview report for November 2023, Airservices Australia said international traffic is accelerating ahead of its forecasts, a notable difference from the early stages of the pandemic recovery which were mainly fuelled by the domestic rebound.

The demonstration flight will take off from HARS Aviation Museum at Shellharbour Airport at 10:30am on Friday. The plane, dubbed the largest “close replica” aircraft in the world, has been restored by HARS over the past 12 years since the society purchased it in 2010.