Jake Nelson

The defence, aviation and critical services firm has taken office space in Engineering House at 11 National Circuit, Barton, giving it easy access to government customers and industry stakeholders around Capital Hill. The office will support its recent winning high-frequency communications upgrade (JP9101) bid as well as corporate services.

From 1 July, point balances on Velocity Frequent Flyer accounts will expire if the account has been inactive for two years, as the airline ends an expiry freeze that was put in place due to COVID-19. The two-year time limit was Virgin’s previous standard, compared to 18 months for Qantas Frequent Flyer.

The airline will shift its Tokyo (Narita) service from the Gold Coast to Brisbane, along with commencing new direct flights from Brisbane to Osaka and Seoul (Incheon) and upping the frequency of its existing flights to Bali and Auckland.

Flight VJ83, on board Airbus A330-300 VN-A810, touched down in Brisbane at 9:38pm on Friday night. The low-cost Vietnamese carrier will operate two return flights per week between Ho Chi Minh City and Brisbane and expects to offer 39,000 seats in the route’s first year.

The Flying Kangaroo will operate three Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights per week between Perth and Rome until October 2023, with a total of more than 22,000 seats over four months. Flights for 2024 will go on sale early next month, extending the route into its third year.

Teri O’Toole, Secretary of the Flight Attendants’ Association of Australia (FAAA) International Division, has accused the Flying Kangaroo of using NZ crews instead of Australian staff on the longer 16-hour leg of the route so it could offer lower rest entitlements.