In a statement released to the ASX, the charter and FIFO operator said there will be a “staged reduction from 30 aircraft to 23 aircraft [in the agreement] over the course of FY27”, as well as a “meaningful increase in pricing” and a revised annual price escalation mechanism.

Speaking exclusively to Australian Aviation, Sharp said he feels Airservices should have around 1,200 air traffic controllers, and that current recruitment rates are the highest in its history. It comes as Airservices faces criticism for highly-publicised delays and near misses at Sydney Airport.

The Vietnamese low-cost carrier will launch two weekly A330 services from WSI to Ho Chi Minh City in January, increasing to three starting in March, with its Thai subsidiary to begin four weekly services to Bangkok starting in November next year.

The jointly funded technology demonstration is the first to showcase automated manned-unmanned teaming between the two platforms using an open systems architecture, allowing machine-to-machine mission planning and execution.