Australian Aviation

Adam and Jake examine the impact of planned industrial action on Easter holiday travel.

The SQ203/204 service, previously operated by 737 MAX 8s, will now be flown by 303-seat A350-900 aircraft, with the first A350 flight touching down in Cairns over the Easter long weekend on 31 March. Each Singapore A350-900 on the route has 40 business class and 263 economy seats.

Months after completing a solo journey around Australia, autistic pilot Hayden McDonald catches up with the Australian Aviation Podcast to talk about his odyssey – and what he plans to do next.

Samantha Mostyn was recommended for the role by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the decision was approved by King Charles.

The mission, which completed in March, used Perimeter 8+ long-range multi-rotor drones from Ninox Robotics to transmit real-time footage both day and night, with the RFS using the data to plan outbreak detection, deployment of firefighters, and intelligence gathering on ongoing fires.

The announcement of the industrial action was overshadowed by a row over ‘leaked documents’ obtained by the firefighters union, which apparently showed travellers were at high risk. Airservices Australia, which oversees airport firefighting, responded by arguing the files showed no such thing and were already in the public domain.