The plane, nicknamed “Monkey Mia”, is the first of eight MAX 8 aircraft Virgin has on order from Boeing. It is earmarked for use on the airline’s Cairns-Tokyo (Haneda) route, due to launch on Wednesday.
The Flying Kangaroo says its domestic capacity has reached pre-pandemic levels, while international capacity is “climbing towards” that mark as the group predicts more than four million passengers on Qantas and Jetstar services over the winter holidays.
The low-cost carrier will fly three times per week between Cairns and Newcastle using Airbus A320 aircraft, translating to around 4,400 seats on the route per month until 28 October. The first flight, JQ894, touched down in Newcastle at 3:08pm on Saturday on board VH-VQF.
The first flight, NZ169, landed at Sunshine Coast Airport at 11am on Sunday on board the Airbus A320neo ZK-NHE. Air New Zealand will operate flights three times per week between Auckland and the Sunshine Coast until 15 October, with an estimated 16,000 seats available over the season.
The “Find My Credit” tool can track bookings up to three years old that may have changed several times due to the pandemic. It comes as the total value of unclaimed Qantas flight credits dips towards $400 million, down from the initial $2 billion in March 2020.
NJE, formerly Cobham, has been a part of the pool program since 2014. The program gives customers unlimited access to a wide variety of components at Embraer distribution centres, as well as full coverage for repairs to parts and components plus maintenance to airframes.