The new aircraft are expected to arrive from late 2027 and will continue to be operated by No. 37 Squadron at RAAF Base Richmond in NSW.
Australian Aviation’s Victor Pody was on hand to capture the moment VH-ZNN, named ‘Snowy River’, landed in the Victorian capital at 8:15am as flight QF7879.
It follows a similar situation in Sydney which led to its CEO telling big airlines to use their take-off slots or gift them to smaller carriers to increase competition.
The 10th edition of the 14-day ‘war game’ is primarily intended to improve interoperability between the Australian and US militaries, and this year will be held primarily in Queensland.
New BITRE data released by the Department of Transport presents fresh evidence that major airlines are taking advantage of the rules around take-off slots to punish smaller rivals.
The AIPA is arguing that Qantas second officers who are passed over for the A380 in favour of pilots from outside the company should be compensated, while Qantas says the pilots’ union has “unreasonably” withheld its agreement to sourcing external A380 pilots.