Jake Nelson

In its submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into regional airfares, the Flying Kangaroo said regional aviation is “commercially challenging”, with airport charges, distance, fuel costs and maintenance all impacting its bottom line.

The March pilot saw passengers travelling on a return trip between Auckland and Hong Kong able to employ their digital ID throughout their journey. This included adding passport data in the Air NZ app, securely sharing information at online check-in, and using it for biometric scans at checkpoints.

The former health minister, who also served as Minister for Defence, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, and Minister for Home Affairs in successive Coalition governments, has replaced former director Stewart Morland as of last month.

Operating on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 May, the flights will complement the existing services via Burnie on other days, cutting the travel time from 95 to 55 minutes and “significantly improving access for residents, visitors, businesses and freight customers”, the airline said.

Testing and installation are ongoing for 20 new aerobridges in Brisbane, featuring “improved safety and visibility”, with the first arriving from New Zealand in February after a five-year design phase. It follows the release of an ATSB report into a pair of aerobridge collisions in 2025.

In a bid to keep airfares low for passengers, the state government will kick in to maintain current prices under the Regional Airfare Zone Cap (RAZC) scheme, some of which were slated to increase from the middle of this year, and cover additional fuel costs on “critical intra-regional routes”.