Australian Aviation

Gate 3 at the airport will handle all Rex and Link Airways flights with fewer than 40 passengers, which do not require security screening, after federal funding for screening processes at regional airports ends on July 1. Qantas passengers will continue to use the screened departure gate.

The organisation that runs ATC said the shutdown, between 6 am and 1:30pm, was instead due to a “short-term” and “unplanned” leave of controllers and did not affect safety.

The low-cost carrier’s problems with cancellations are compounded because it mostly flies ‘low frequency’ routes not serviced by its rivals – meaning customers often struggle to find alternative transport home.

The two airlines will appear at public hearings as the committee examines issues around the aviation, banking and social procurement sectors. Three days of hearings will be held in total: one in Toowoomba on 30 June, and two in Melbourne on 4-5 July.

The NZ national carrier is putting on extra return flights from Wellington, Christchurch, and Auckland to Sydney and Melbourne in February, as well as adding seats on existing flights, to cope with an anticipated surge in demand from Kiwis snubbed by the songstress’ Eras Tour, which is bypassing the Land of the Long White Cloud entirely.

The airline will fly daily between the two capitals using its fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with the first flight, ZL817, taking off from Sydney on Thursday aboard VH-RQG. According to Rex deputy chairman John Sharp, the route has already seen “strong demand from eager travellers”.