Jake Nelson

The 33-year-old was due to face Brisbane Magistrates Court on 20 April over the alleged incident on 1 February this year, in which he is accused of damaging airport property and gaining access to a restricted area without authority.

A C-17A Globemaster III aircraft from 36 Squadron and C-27J Spartan aircraft from No. 35 Squadron have taken part in the relief effort, including airlifting humanitarian aid to affected areas and conducting aerial damage assessments of critical infrastructure.

The deal, which was backed by the Australian and International Pilots’ Association (AIPA), would have covered around 1,700 Qantas A330, A380, and 787 pilots, and replaced the previous agreement which expired in 2024. Around two thirds of pilots voted against it.

Commencing earlier this month, the Saturday flights complement an existing Tuesday service, which replaced a now-defunct Air Vanuatu route in 2024. The Saturday service will switch to Thursdays between July 2026 and January 2027.

Flight MH139 was the first Adelaide service to use Malaysia’s 297-seat A330-900s, with 9M-MNK touching down in Adelaide at 7am local time on Thursday morning. The flight was 89 per cent full according to Malaysia Airlines figures, and follows Malaysia going daily to Adelaide in February.

The fire, believed to have started due to a leak of liquid hydrocarbons and gases, hit Australia’s only onshore avgas manufacturer. Viva supplies fuel, including avgas, Jet A1 and Jet Plus, to all seven capital-city airports as well as 54 regional airports, as reported in The Australian.