The airline has launched a “generative AI assistant for senior corporate teams with tailored training to drive productivity”, and said it will be rolling out new AI capabilities over the next 12 months.

The Flying Kangaroo will extend the seasonal service by eight weeks, with flights set to run from 3 May to 23 October, with flights boosted from three to four per week during peak season. This will add 44 extra services in total to the route, or almost 10,000 seats.

Jim Jefferies described the fatal crash and grounding of the ADF fleet of MRH-90 Taipan helicopters as “terrible”, “intentionally-drawn out” and a “government cover-up”, while appearing on the ‘This Past Weekend’ podcast with American comedian Theo Von in late August.

The carrier that would become Australia’s second largest airline group operated its first flight, from Brisbane to Sydney, on 31 August 2000, and benefited from the collapse of Ansett a year later before rebranding to Virgin Australia in 2011.