Jake Nelson

The airport, which cut the ribbon on its expanded terminal last year, saw a record 1,300,775 passengers in FY26 – its first time surpassing 1.3 million, and a 10 per cent increase on the previous year. It comes after Newcastle won Airport of the Year at the 2026 Australian Aviation Awards.

VH-ZPN was preparing to depart for Broken Hill on 8 October 2025 with two flight crew, one cabin crew, and 23 passengers on board when its left engine failed during the take-off roll. As it was before the V1 decision speed, the pilots opted to abort the take-off and taxied off the runway.

The airport joins Perth as one of the only two Australian airports to receive accreditation under the Airport Council International’s (ACI) Accessibility Enhancement Accreditation Program, which helps recognise and facilitate efforts to improve accessibility for disabled passengers.

The 2026 Roy Morgan Trusted Brand Awards saw the carrier retain its title with a strong “net trust score”, reflecting high levels of trust and low levels of distrust in public surveys.

The Townsville Aviation Centre of Excellence is billed as a “leading training facility for the next generation of defence aviation maintenance engineers” with simulation equipment such as aircraft maintenance trainers and virtual maintenance trainers, as well as other advanced system trainers.

Up to $25 million in total is available under the funding round, covering up to 50 per cent of project costs for safety and accessibility upgrades or 100 per cent for eligible Indigenous-owned or operated airstrips, capped at $4 million.