Jake Nelson

Around 70 instructors for Skydive Australia, part of Experience Co, walked off the job at eight sites around Australia over the weekend seeking better pay and conditions. It followed similar industrial action in December over stalled enterprise agreement negotiations.

A report from a University of Queensland economist, commissioned by the Brisbane Flight Path Community Alliance, has asserted that banning night flights would cost only around $10 million per year, but could generate at least $50 million in “health and economic benefits”.

The NZ carrier’s demonstrator battery-electric BETA ALIA CX300, N401NZ, completed 100 flights totalling 13,000 kilometres over the course of the testing period, visiting 12 airports and aerodromes across the country. Two Air New Zealand pilots and eight BETA Technologies pilots participated.

The American carrier, which began year-round Melbourne–Los Angeles services in December, currently flies three times per week to LAX, but will gradually increase its frequency seasonally between October this year and March 2027.

The airline, Africa’s largest, is planning at least two Australian routes to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, though will seek to expand its fleet of wide-body jets first. The route would likely open up another connection from Australia to Europe, as well as into the African continent.

January saw 688,534 international arrivals come through Melbourne, around half of the 1,261,361 total international travellers, alongside 2,115,518 domestic passengers; this makes for Melbourne’s third busiest month for overall passenger numbers on record, behind December and January 2025.