Jake Nelson

The seasonal service will initially fly three times per week starting 21 June using 286-seat A350-900 aircraft, each with around 15 tonnes of freight capacity. Flights will pause from 2 August to “early 2027”, when the airline will finish its first season.

Flight QF281 departed Brisbane at 9:13am on Monday on board VH-X4D, touching down in Wellington at 3:11pm local time. Services will operate up to three times per week, replacing the E190s and some 737-800s previously on the route.

Albury and Wagga Wagga will lose Qantas flights to the Victorian capital from March due to declining demand, though the carrier will still serve Sydney and Brisbane from both cities. The move will leave Albury-Melbourne with no services, and Wagga Wagga-Melbourne served only by Rex.

From October to December 2025, a total of 340,778 passengers travelled through the updated terminal, including 111,007 in December alone. The airport now says it is expecting 1.334 million passengers by the end of the 2025–26 financial year.

The turboprop, registered VH-8QD, will operate alongside NJE’s eight-strong Embraer E190 fleet in the west, and comes as the carrier plans to add at least two more E-Jets to its fleet this year.

The 470-square-metre firefighting hub will strengthen the emergency response capabilities at Launceston, and is expected to be finished in time for the peak summer fire season later this year.