Jake Nelson

WSI will see up to 10 Jetstar and five Qantas narrow-body aircraft within the first year, operating more than 25,000 flights carrying around four million passengers per annum to destinations including Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

The daily Boeing 737 service will begin on 17 August, and adds to Rex’s existing Saab 340 regional services to Burnie, Devonport, and King Island. The 75-minute flights will depart Melbourne at 12:15pm to arrive in Hobart at 1:30, before leaving at 2:15pm to touch down in Melbourne at 3:30.

In an interview at IATA’s annual general meeting in Istanbul, Hrdlicka said that while slots are “mostly OK”, the current arrangement is making it difficult for airlines to juggle unexpected events as it returns to normal.

108,000 tonnes of concrete, previously part of runway touchdown zones, is being crushed and repurposed as backfill for 250,000m2 of new airfield to the west of the international terminal rather than being sent away as waste. Auckland Airport is aiming to divert at least 70% of its construction waste away from landfill or disposal.

Speaking to the Australian Aviation podcast, Jordan said Bonza’s model involves looking for new markets rather than attempting to go toe-to-toe with legacy carriers on routes such as the Sydney-Melbourne-Brisbane “golden triangle”.

Billed as one of the largest cabin crew recruitment drives in the low-cost carrier’s history, the plan will see Jetstar operate almost 40 training schools across the country, and is part of Qantas Group’s ambition to create 8500 new operational roles over the next 10 years.