Australian Aviation

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government has so far secured almost 600 seats on flights departing Lebanon, most if not all via Cyprus, and that “now is the time to leave”.

The visits are part of a series of activities the Air Force is conducting across the north-west of WA, exploring opportunities, building relationships and exposing its people to operating from remote locations outside their home bases.

A Piper PA-30 Twin Engine Comanche aircraft, VH-8MN, was tasked with taking off and landing at both ends of the runway in daylight, dusk and nighttime conditions to ensure the airport’s 3,000 Aeronautical Ground Lights (AGLs) were fit for purpose ahead of the 2026 opening.

The airline has commenced its summer schedule, which triples its Melbourne–King Island services to nine per week; it also flies return between King Island and Burnie/Launceston 12 times per week.

Simon Westaway, who was executive head of corporate relations at Jetstar from 2004 to 2011, has also worked for Impulse Airways and Tourism Australia. He replaces James Goodwin, who left the AAA in a surprise announcement in July.

The drones were among multiple items confiscated by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers as part of a Counter Proliferation investigation into the suspected export of military-grade and military end‑use items to Russia, while searching an Eden Hills residence in Adelaide on 27 September.