australian - VibeWire Magazine

Virgin unveils Velocity loyalty changes including new status tiers

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October 17, 2024
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The airline will add a new “Forever Gold” status from October next year, matching Qantas’ gold lifetime status, as well as a “Platinum Plus” tier above platinum. Velocity Frequent Flyer hit 12 million members earlier this year, though still lags behind…

WA Police to add first jet to air fleet

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October 17, 2024
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The police force will lease a Pilatus PC-24 and upgrade its existing PC-12 fleet, with the twin-engine PC-24 expected to halve the current travel time from Perth to towns such as Kununurra while being able to land on unsealed outback airstrips.

QantasLink A220s to go international next year

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October 16, 2024
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Darwin-Singapore, which was slated to launch in December using Embraer E190s, will instead launch in March 2025 using the A220s. The news comes as Qantas rolls out a new route from Brisbane to Palau, alters some key routes to the US and Asia-Pacific, a…

Qantas pilots’ union slams Virgin’s Qatar wet-lease deal

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October 16, 2024
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Speaking to The Australian this week, Australian and International Pilots Association president Tony Lucas said the deal – which would see Qatar operate flights to Doha under the Virgin Australia banner – is a “workaround of bilateral agreements” and o…

Airservices and Wisk sign deal to support air taxi integration

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October 16, 2024
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The memorandum of understanding will see Wisk, a subsidiary of Boeing, and Airservices collaborate and share expertise on autonomous air mobility, with an estimated 1 million air taxi flights per year expected by 2043. Wisk is aiming to have air taxis …

Airbus demonstrates teaming system for drones and helicopters

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October 16, 2024
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The demonstration took place in France and Italy from 30 September to 9 October and involved multiple manned helicopters and unmanned systems connected to a single network.

Ground delays plummet to lowest in more than 12 months

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October 15, 2024
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In its Australian Aviation Network Overview report for September 2024, Airservices pointed to favourable weather conditions as one factor in the reduction of total ground delay hours over the month of September.

Video: ADF drone racing footage from the world champions

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October 15, 2024
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In this special Australian Aviation video, Adam, Jake and Ben watch race footage from the victorious Australian Army Drone Racing Team – as well as some behind-the-scenes clips showing the racers in action.

Footy traffic drives Melbourne’s best single day post-COVID

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October 15, 2024
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September was also a record for Virgin Australia in Melbourne, with the airline carrying more passengers through its largest base at terminal 3 than any other month since it began operating to the city in May 2001.

Emirates joins Lebanon repatriation efforts

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October 15, 2024
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According to Emirates, more than 200 Australians and their family members were able to access the repatriation services.