Australian Aviation

The deal is the latest milestone in the delivery of the Royal Australian Air Force’s fleet of MQ-4C Triton aircraft, with the partners to support the operation and maintenance of command-and-control systems aboard the multi-intelligence uncrewed aircraft fleet.

The carrier will use Wellington Airport as its home base for the ALIA, which it expects to receive starting late next year. It will initially fly cargo services with NZ Post from Wellington to Marlborough Airport on the other side of the Cook Strait.

The fuel, produced at Neste’s Singapore refinery, will be supplied to Air New Zealand at LAX by 30 November after being blended with conventional jet fuel to meet required specifications. The deal is nine times larger than Air New Zealand’s first SAF shipment from Neste in 2022.

Dubbed “Wilbur Air”, the “e-airline” will have priority access to the Skyportz vertiport network, with a “range of aircraft partners” to provide services including short- and long-range passenger transport and heavy-lift drone deliveries.

The facility in the Latrobe Aerospace Technology Precinct at Latrobe Regional Airport, backed by investment from the Victorian state government, will be used for Dovetail’s goal of retrofitting regional aircraft with batteries and hydrogen fuel cells for zero-emissions aviation.

Two QantasLink pilots who experienced hypoxia-like symptoms on a 717 service from Sydney to Hobart last year did not use supplemental oxygen, the ATSB has revealed.