Jake Nelson

Overall passenger numbers grew by 4.5 per cent year on year in December 2025, Airservices said in its Australian Aviation Network Overview report for the month, driven by holiday travel and major events like the Ashes as well as Lady Gaga and AC/DC concerts.

As reported in The Australian, around a dozen flights were cancelled and others delayed by 15 minutes to more than an hour in Sydney on Thursday, with Airservices also using ground delays at other airports to pump the brakes on arrivals and departures at Kingsford Smith Airport.

The Papua New Guinea flag carrier is introducing its new A220-300 fleet on the route from 29 March, with a third weekly service also planned for the city pair. The A220s will replace the 737-800s currently used on the route, which is occasionally also operated by 767s.

A DH-115 Vampire T.35, Gloster Meteor F.8, Cessna A-37B Dragonfly, Ryan STM-S2, English Electric Canberra, CA-27 Sabre, CT4A, and RE8, all from No. 100 Squadron, will be “transitioned with dignity” out of service, with the squadron to continue flying 11 other aircraft.

B-LRJ, decked out in the 1970s-1990s livery to mark the airline’s 80th anniversary, arrived in Sydney at 7am on Wednesday, operating flight CX111 from Hong Kong.

The carrier, which placed second in the Asia-Pacific for on-time arrivals in 2025, last year introduced a new system for its regional operations, saying it involved “rethinking how schedules are built to better reflect the realities of operating at different airports across the country”.