Virgin Australia has returned to the top of the punctuality table, edging out Qantas as the nation’s most on-time domestic airline, government statistics show. According to figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE), Virgin had the highest percentage of on-time arrivals in October, with 89.8 per cent of its domestic flights
Virgin Australia is making a smart utilisation play with a new back-of-the-clock winter weekend flight between Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands beginning in seven months’ time. Tickets are now on sale with an introductory lead-in fare of NZ$299. The airline will fly the roundtrip service once weekly between
Alliance Airlines is to acquire the entire Austrian Airlines fleet of 21 Fokker 100 and Fokker 70 aircraft under a deal that will see Alliance diversify its operations into Europe, and the Lufthansa-owned Austrian become a shareholder in Alliance. The US$15 million deal, announced on Wednesday, will see Alliance acquire Austrian’s 15 Fokker 100s and
Air New Zealand is claiming a “world first” with its introduction of near field communication (NFC) chip-equipped ‘Airband’ wristbands for unaccompanied children that trigger text messages to be sent to parents and caregivers at key stages of travel. “Children travelling alone on Air New Zealand services will now receive an Airband at check-in as part of the service,” Air
Brisbane West Wellcamp has become Australia’s latest international airport with the arrival of a Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-8F. The Cathay freighter, registered B-LJA, touched down a little after 1430 local time on Monday from Sydney and was due to be on the ground for about 90 minutes while cargo such as chilled beef, mangoes, pecan nuts and
The first of three Boeing 737s being transferred to Tigerair Australia to begin international services to Bali next year has emerged from the paintshop. Virgin Australia 737-8FE VH-VUB was towed out of the Flying Colours paintshop at Townsville on Sunday morning ahead of flying into Melbourne on Sunday afternoon. The aircraft is one of three 737s
