Jake Nelson

The eight-year-old 737-800 (similar aircraft pictured), VH-XZL, departed Melbourne (Tullamarine) as flight QF769 to Perth at 9:52am on Sunday morning, 23 April, but returned to the airport about an hour into the journey after the crew reported the smell of fumes in the cockpit.

The report by the national centre for transport and mobility research iMOVE, working with the University of South Australia, predicts a $460 million net boost to the national economy from the emergency services sector alone, with a net productivity increase of 10 per cent, as well as between $1-8 billion if drones are used in early fire detection.

Wing has officially launched a drone delivery service operating from a shopping centre in Ipswich, Queensland. The company – which is owned by Google parent Alphabet – has partnered with DoorDash to drone-deliver food and other essentials from Mirvac’s Orion Springfield Central shopping centre to surrounding communities.

The competition watchdog today said that allowing the merger to go ahead would likely substantially lessen competition, thus threatening “increased prices and reduced service quality” for resource industry customers in WA and Queensland.

Brisbane airport duty manager Megan Willoughby said she believed the airline’s vaccine mandate didn’t apply to those not currently working, but the Fair Work Commission ruled she was aware of the rules.

The US carrier will hugely expand its Australian and New Zealand operations later this year following its codeshare agreement with Qantas rival Virgin.