Government rolls out draft aviation disability standards

Announced today by Transport Minister Catherine King at the 2026 Australian Aviation Summit, the draft standards – developed through consultation with people with disabilities and with the industry – builds on a commitment from the 2024 Aviation Whit...

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Diversity vital to Australia’s aerospace future, new research says

Delivered under the Australian Government's Women in Aviation Industry Initiative (WAII), the two industry-wide studies provide one of the most comprehensive assessments of workplace culture, leadership and career progression across Australia's aviat...

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Video Podcast: Flying in the line of fire

On this week’s Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David look at the risks borne by aerial firefighters, and ask what more can be done to keep our flying firies safe.

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Brisbane Airport sees record 25m passengers in 2025-26

Numbers climbed by more than one million, or four per cent, on the previous financial year, with more than seven million international passengers – up 7.9 per cent – and 18 million domestic passengers, up 2.5 per cent.

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Jetstar dumps weight-based cabin baggage rules

Starting 2 February 2027, the 7kg limit for cabin baggage will be removed, with passengers instead allowed a single underseat bag of up to 40 × 30 × 20cm, and larger carry-on bags in overhead bins – along with priority boarding – available for separa...

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Australia Post deploys first-ever parcel hub on RAAF base

Operating for the duration of Exercise Pitch Black, the dedicated Parcel Hub provides Australian and international personnel deployed to Darwin access to postal services, including the movement of urgent freight and the return of equipment.

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Qantas moves to quell offshoring speculation

Responding to reports in The Australian that it was working with consultancy firm Accenture on the plan dubbed “Project iQ”, a spokesperson for the Flying Kangaroo said discussions were still in early stages and no firm decisions had been made.

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NZDF looks to upgrade with explosive strike drones

The plan to acquire human-operated strike drones for delivering explosives to a target without returning to launch points follows recent announcements to begin market research into unarmed long-range uncrewed aircraft systems able to conduct maritime...

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Qantas closes deal to sell off Jetstar Japan stake

Under the deal, initially announced in February, Qantas will sell off its interest in the airline, which will rebrand as a wholly Japanese-owned low-cost carrier and “allow the Qantas Group to redirect capital investment towards Qantas and Jetstar’s ...

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NASA opens first new wind tunnel in more than 40 years

The new vertical wind tunnel replaces two ageing facilities, the 20-Foot Vertical Spin Tunnel and the 12-Foot Low-Speed Tunnel, while significantly expanding NASA’s ability to conduct aerodynamic and flight dynamics testing across a broad range of ai...

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FAA finally gives stamp of approval to 737 MAX 7

With the amended type certificate and updated Production Limitation Record, the 737-7, Boeing’s smallest and longest-range aircraft in the 737 MAX family, is now cleared to enter commercial service after an eight-year certification process.

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Australian-owned firefighting helicopters in deadly mid-air crash

The Bell aircraft, owned by McDermott Aviation, were battling a fire near Porto Gremeno in Greece when the rotor of one appeared to strike the underside of the other, causing the lower helicopter to crash in flames, while the other flew away after du...

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Sydney Airport traffic ‘resilient’ despite Iran conflict

A total of 9.96 million passengers travelled through Sydney’s terminals in Q2 2026, down 0.7 per cent on the same period in 2025, but half-yearly passenger traffic was up 1.5 per cent on 2025 levels, with growth in Asian routes helping offset the slu...

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NZ Govt requests info on long-range maritime surveillance drones

The information gathered will provide indicative costs and time frames for the potential delivery of a system to conduct maritime surveillance activities across the South-West Pacific. The UAS will not be armed.

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Premium Podcast: ‘Top Gun for kids’

In this premium Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake talks to Melanie Hill about how she brought the high-speed, high-stakes air races to life, as well as how her book

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Launceston Airport marks new record financial year

A total of 1,478,925 people travelled through Launceston’s terminal in 2025-26, up three per cent on the previous year, with January the busiest month in the airport’s history. A total of eight monthly records were beaten over the last 12 months.

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Australia sends helicopters to help battle French wildfires

The CH-47D Chinook helicopter, equipped with an 11,300-litre water tank, and Bell 412 reconnaissance and support aircraft will be deployed to France, accompanied by 24 highly skilled aerial and ground crew from the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.

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New standard operating procedures adopted for large air tankers

The Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council developed the procedures, which include minimum drop heights, after the ATSB’s findings around the crash of a Boeing 737-3H4 Fireliner, N619SW (similar aircraft pictured), on 6 February...

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Queensland Airports sees ‘bumper’ passenger growth in 2025-26

The operator of Gold Coast, Townsville, Mount Isa and Longreach airports recorded 8.4 million total passengers in the 12 months to the end of June, up half a million on the previous year, with Gold Coast Airport seeing the most substantial growth, up...

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Leidos wins $1.3m Queensland government grant

Part of the state’s $180.6 million Sovereign Industry Development Fund (SIDF), the grant will enable Leidos to “relocate and upgrade its Mission Equipment Service Centre”, boosting its capacity to maintain advanced airborne radar and electro-optic sy...

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German Air Force chief visits fighter pilots training in Australia

Lieutenant General Holger Neumann is touring Australia as part of Exercise Pitch Black 26 held in the Northern Territory this month.

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Project Sunrise test flight smashes records

The A350-1000ULR MSN707, which flew from Airbus’ plant in Toulouse to Melbourne last week, touched down from the return journey on 28 July after 24 hours and 24 minutes in the air, covering a total distance of 23,075 kilometres.

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Video Podcast: Cargo (but plane go faster)

On this week’s Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David unpack the crate expectations being placed on Australia’s secondary airports as freight operations ramp up at WSI and Avalon.

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China Southern to fly daily from Perth over year-end peak

The carrier, which recently moved to year-round Perth services, currently flies three times per week, but will move to seven over the summer, bringing an extra 12,600 inbound seats on board its 787-9 Dreamliners. In total, 55,200 seats will be availa...

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CASA to ease certification of large drones

The rules, to come into effect on 29 September, will provide additional options for certification of RPAs heavier than 150kg, beyond the current experimental and restricted certificates.

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Alan Joyce memoir hits shelves

Published by Hardie Grant, Riding the Jet Stream touches on key moments from Joyce’s working life, including the founding of Jetstar, the GFC, the Qantas worldwide fleet grounding, the campaign for same-sex marriage, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Maurice Blackburn still working on ‘complex’ Qantas settlement

The firm, which received the settlement funds from Qantas last May, noted that it “must take all reasonable steps to make payment within 24 months of the scheme commencing, i.e. May 2027”, and that initial minimum $9,000 payments were made to all reg...

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Aussie UAS supplier warns of suspected cyber attack

Australia-based CubePilot, which supplies hardware and embedded software for the civilian unmanned systems industry, has warned its customers that some of its systems are offline while it investigates a “security incident”.

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