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Aviation

Today

Air Vanuatu slipped into voluntary liquidation in May after suddenly cancelling dozens of its international flights.

Air Vanuatu emerges from administration with EY-led restructure

The Pacific nation’s courts approved a plan to transfer shares in the flag carrier to AV3 Ltd – a 100 per cent government-owned vehicle – on Wednesday.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

This Month

Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka says the Qatar investment will give the airline a huge boost to compete better with Qantas domestically.

Qatar Airways to buy 25pc of Virgin Australia, funding big expansion

The deal with Bain Capital will allow the Gulf carrier to effectively bypass government approvals for more flights, creating a formidable rival for Qantas.

  • Updated
  • Ayesha de Kretser
Jane Hrdlicka, CEO of Virgin Australia.

This is where the next battle between Virgin and Qantas will be fought

Virgin’s deal with Qatar will make it a stronger competitor to Qantas. But the two airlines are set to duke it out over one key part of the new arrangement.

  • James Thomson
A successful outcome would set the airline up for an IPO in mid-2025.

Qatar Airways deal can help Virgin escape Qantas’ flying wedge

Allowing an international state-owned carrier buy a stake in Australia’s second-biggest airline will go a long way to creating a better competitive balance in the domestic aviation market.

  • Peter Harbison
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ASX dips | Israel starts ‘targeted raids’ | Qatar to buy 25pc of Virgin Australia

Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today: the ASX has slipped from its record, Israel has started ground operations in Lebanon with ‘targeted raids’, and Qatar Airways to buy 25 per cent of Virgin Australia.

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Qatar Airways Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner business class.

What do we know about Qatar Airways?

The acquisitive operator started only two decades ago, and now flies to more countries than almost any other. But it has had its fair share of controversies.

  • Ayesha de Kretser
Virgin CEO Jayne Hrdlicka has hailed the “missing piece” of the airline’s strategy.

How the Virgin and Qatar deal could wedge Qantas and Labor

Bain’s deal with the Gulf carrier will make it a more formidable rival to Qantas, and put pressure on a government that claims to want stronger competition.

  • James Thomson

September

Gold Coast airport accounts for nearly 75 per cent of Queensland Airport Limited’s traffic volumes.

KKR, Kim Jackson’s Skip Capital win $3b Queensland Airports race

Queensland Airports Limited is KKR’s first airports deal around the world.

  • Updated
  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Getting the AFL Grand Final is expected to cost Swans and Lions fans a pretty penny.

Heading to Melbourne for the footy? It might pay to book a stop-over

Brisbane fans might choose a less-than-ideal path to save a few dollars in the pilgrimage to the MCG this weekend – booking a flight via Sydney or Canberra.

  • Ayesha de Kretser

Qantas pilots to vote on pay freeze offer (worth 30pc more)

Short-haul pilots are the last group of the airline’s employees to vote on enterprise agreements since the pandemic, when wages were frozen across all entities.

  • Ayesha de Kretser
Transport Minister Catherine King has been working on a cohesive strategy for the aviation sector for more than a year. So far, little has changed.

Labor sings vastly different tunes on supermarkets and Qantas

Aviation is much more concentrated than supermarkets, yet the government seems to accept that the airline industry should remain anticompetitive.

  • Ayesha de Kretser
Just under half of voters are open to the prospect of breaking up airlines to boost competition.

Voters want more action to cut airfares, open to Qantas-Jetstar split

The results of The Australian Financial Review/Freshwater Strategy poll will give succour to Coalition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie.

  • Ronald Mizen
Lim Kim Hai has snapped up a handful of REX’s property assets and is keen to buy more.

Bankers begin the task of unravelling the Rex empire with asset sales

Almost two months after Regional Express called in administrators, the regional airline’s assets is being broken up and sold off.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Virgin Australia is struggling with the Cairns to Tokyo route.

Qantas eyes downtown Tokyo flights as Virgin waits for new planes

Demand for travel to Japan is strong, but not from Cairns, as the red kangaroo tries to muscle in on its rival’s misfortune.

  • Ayesha de Kretser
When Delta Air Lines revamped its SkyMiles program last year, users lit up social media with their ire.

The fury of the frequent flyer

Airline loyalty programs have tested customer patience and now face government probes. They won’t be nearly as lucrative in the future if customers end up loathing the associated airlines.

  • Brooke Masters
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The federal government has directed changes be made to Brisbane Airport’s flight paths.

Labor pulls Airservices into line on Brisbane Airport noise

The government agency charged with designing flight paths has been told to hurry up in Brisbane, as Labor faces an airport noise backlash at the state election.

  • Ayesha de Kretser
Rex’s grounding is more bad news for travellers.

Domestic airfares jump after collapse of Rex

The demise of the regional carrier is more bad news for travellers as domestic raise fares and Qantas lifts its fees for changing bookings.

  • Ayesha de Kretser
Auckland Airport’s “once-in-a-generation investment” will enable the facility “to be resilient and fit for the future”, said its CEO Carrie Hurihanganui.

Auckland airport stokes airline stoush with monster capital raising

Qantas has labelled Auckland International Airport’s $6.6 billion investment plan “inefficient”, saying it would cripple demand.

  • Ayesha de Kretser
Equity deals are flying out the door as investors scramble for discounted stock in an expensive market.

Four reasons why Monday’s biggest deal flew out the door

After a years-long exodus of infrastructure plays on the ASX – from transmission line operators to wind farm owners – it’s slim pickings for local investors.

  • Updated
  • Anthony Macdonald
A Qantas aircraft at Sydney Airport. The company has said it will improve the customer experience, but is now charging more to change travel arrangements.

Qantas raises the cost of changing tickets by a whopping 20pc

The airline, which last year pledged to make it easier for travellers to modify flights, says it’s the first time it’s changed this particular fee since 2017.

  • Ayesha de Kretser

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/aviation-5ut