Jake Nelson

The additional flights, set to begin on 1 July, will cater for the island’s growing tourism industry as well as its scheelite mine, said CEO Alistair Dorward.

Dubbed ‘Monkey Mia’, the aircraft – registered VH-8IA – will fly domestically for a short period of time to obtain regulatory approval and familiarise crews before beginning flights to Tokyo, according to a Virgin Australia spokesperson.

QF3, from Sydney to New York via Auckland, took off at 9:55am on Wednesday morning aboard the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner VH-ZNL (pictured), one of Qantas’s newest aircraft, which was delivered at the end of April. The 19-hour route will operate three times weekly, increasing to four from October, with more than 1,800 seats per week.

Revealed over the weekend as a standalone sequel to the 2020 release, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is slated to be available on Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows 10/11, and Steam.

Launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenburg Space Force Base in California, the prototype is part of a program partnering with Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) on a space-based solution to track aircraft and provide global communication between pilots and air traffic control irrespective of a plane’s location.

Supporters of the Brisbane Flight Path Community Alliance (BFPCA) rallied on Saturday to demand a 10pm-6am curfew at Brisbane Airport, as well as a cap on the total number of flights, similar to the arrangements at Sydney Airport.