Australian Aviation

As many as 440 drones dropped out of the sky during a pre-game light display to celebrate the Matildas’ soccer match against France at Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium on Friday evening, according to the ATSB, with efforts ongoing to retrieve them before their batteries pollute the river.

The two new aircraft will bring Rex’s 737 fleet from seven to nine, as the airline announced in February. Rex expects the planes to arrive in Australia by the end of July and September respectively, with the first to enter service next month.

According to the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU), the C-130 Hercules maintenance workers were recently offered a larger rise and back pay by Airbus Australia Pacific in exchange for giving up their boots and first aid allowances.

Flight GD2448 from Geraldton arrived in Perth at 8:04am on Monday, the first service by Nexus into the Western Australian capital. The service, which uses 76-seater de Havilland Dash 8-Q400 aircraft, is estimated to add around 95,000 seats between the two destinations per year.

Starting on 6 December, the Hong Kong-based carrier will increase its Perth–Hong Kong route from three to five flights per week using its 280-seat Airbus A350-900 fleet.

Under the expanded codeshare agreement, customers will be able to book ANA flights directly through Virgin Australia’s website, as well as earning Velocity frequent flyer points and status credits on ANA services.