Jake Nelson

Geoff Culbert has pointed the finger squarely at airlines for Sydney’s lagging domestic recovery, which saw passenger numbers last month grow just 1.2 per cent year-on-year to 1.90 million travellers.

Following his final flight from Vancouver to Auckland, Ron Twine joined Jake Nelson on the Australian Aviation Podcast to discuss his long career.

The Middle Eastern carrier had planned to operate extra flights to destinations like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Federal Transport Minister Catherine King, however, has knocked back expanding Qatar’s air rights.

Dubbed Naarm Way, the road was opened on Tuesday and provides a new dedicated exit that bypasses all intersections between the freeway and the transport hub at Terminal 4. It is the largest road investment Melbourne Airport has made since Airport Drive opened in 2015.

As many as 440 drones dropped out of the sky during a pre-game light display to celebrate the Matildas’ soccer match against France at Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium on Friday evening, according to the ATSB, with efforts ongoing to retrieve them before their batteries pollute the river.

The two new aircraft will bring Rex’s 737 fleet from seven to nine, as the airline announced in February. Rex expects the planes to arrive in Australia by the end of July and September respectively, with the first to enter service next month.