A Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330-300, 9M-MTL, passed just seven metres over the top of work vehicles at the end of Melbourne’s runway 34 on the night of 7 September 2023, followed by a Bamboo Airways 787-9, VN-A819, passing less than five metres overhead 11 days later.

Flight CX173 from Hong Kong touched down in Adelaide shortly before 10:20am on Wednesday aboard the A350-900 B-LRJ, returning as CX174 two hours later. The non-stop flights will operate three times per week until 27 March 2026.

The early-morning flight QF1972 to Canberra, on board wet-leased Alliance E190 VH-UZI, made a PAN call after the pilots detected smoke in the flight deck, and turned back to Adelaide. The flight, which had several Liberal politicians on board, landed safely at around 6:20am.

Lockheed's delivery aims to assist the ADF's AIR5428 Phase 1 Pilot Training System, which seeks to ensure fifth-generation mission readiness for the ADF, and provide flight training to increase the qualifications and skill sets of personnel.