Jake Nelson

Qantas noted that its on-time departure rate was 4.4 per cent higher than Virgin’s in a month with the end of school holidays and the NRL grand final, and said it was 1.4 per cent better than in October last year, meaning around 28,000 more customers departed on time.

Virgin Australia will ban use and charging of power banks on board from 1 December, with Qantas and Jetstar to follow as of 15 December. The airlines had initiated a review of their power bank policies following a fire on board a Virgin flight in July.

The state government will hold 22 public consultation sessions in coming weeks, as well as speak to councils, industry stakeholders, and local MPs, to ensure “a broad range of perspectives” inform the process of preparing for the next aviation services contracts.

The company will partner with Indigenous aerospace consultancy Gunggandji Aerospace and the Indigenous Defence and Infrastructure Consortium to staff a new emergency services operations centre at Adelaide Airport, which will come online in November 2026.

Speaking to ABC’s The Business, Hickey said WSI is on track to begin operations in a year’s time, with four airlines – QantasLink, Jetstar, Singapore Airlines, and Air New Zealand – having all committed to fly from the airport.

In a new report, the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue called for a “more ambitious, multi‑year package” to bolster connectivity at the airport on top of the existing $16 million Western Sydney International Take-Off Fund, saying other airports have received far more funding.