Jake Nelson

The Indonesian medium-service carrier will fly four times per week from Melbourne to Denpasar using its A320 fleet starting 19 October, becoming the sixth carrier to operate the route. Melbourne will be TransNusa’s second Australian destination after Perth.

The aeromedical organisation said four laser strikes have been reported on LifeFlight Australia helicopters this year, compared with two in the whole of 2025, with the three most recent in Goodna, Caboolture, and South Brisbane.

Formerly one of Australia’s two major domestic carriers, Ansett’s fleet was grounded on 14 September 2001 after being placed into administration two days earlier; while limited flights resumed in October of that year, the airline would shut its doors for good in March 2002.

In an addendum to its issues paper on the proposal, which would see fees to airlines increase by around 15 per cent per year over the next five years, the consumer and competition watchdog extended the consultation period deadline from 25 September to 9 October.

According to media reports, the two passengers on board VA7 from Melbourne to Doha on Friday were allegedly “headbutting and spitting on flight attendants” and claiming they had a gun, and “six or seven men each” were needed to subdue and restrain them until the flight could land.

Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ) says Airservices’ data does not account for knock-on effects from delays, with CEO Stephen Beckett saying the air navigation service provider is “not being upfront about the full extent of delays resulting from its actions”.