Melbourne Airport revealed early this morning that the new pick up and drop off area would open on Tuesday, October 6.
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A shame no more day sailings.. I liked being able to do that when I went to Tassie in 2024. The trip back was a night one ..not as enjoyable and it was hard to sleep.
And hopefully the new ships will have the VAST channels available in some form?
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You’re a big sook - I did a overnight trip on the Spirit of Tasmania and was able to sleep, with three other teenagers when I was 15 and had no issues. 
15? A 15 year old would sleep through a nuclear bomb.
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Not on a school excursion…
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The number of Australian visitors to Japan was just shy of hitting a “major milestone” of one million outbound travellers in the first half of the year as 990,950 Aussies headed to the country in 2026 to July, the Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA) said on Monday.
It comes as Australians took a record 12.76 million overseas trips over the same period, the ATIA ‘Travel Trends’ data showed.
Meanwhile Vietnam was the fastest-growing destination for Australian travellers this year, up 15.9 per cent to 577,880 visitors.
China was close behind with a rise of 13.4 per cent to 749,130, while Chinese visitor numbers to Australia jumped 17.6 per cent to 1,131,650 – the strongest inbound growth of any market, the ATIA said.
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The new structure will replace the existing border sign between Eucla in Western Australia and Border Village in South Australia, which has been a popular photo stop for tourists crossing the Nullarbor for more than three decades.
Main Roads is progressing engineering drawings for the fabrication of the new 4.5-metre-tall structure, with a tender for the works expected to be advertised later this year. A contract to demolish the existing sign has been awarded to local Kalgoorlie company, Demolition WA. This work will be undertaken in the first week of October
Installation of the new sign is expected to commence by early 2027.
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AUSTRALIA TO NEW YORK, NON-STOP: QANTAS TO LAUNCH HISTORY-MAKING PROJECT SUNRISE FLIGHTS ACROSS THE PACIFIC
Qantas will launch non-stop services between Sydney and New York from mid-2028, the first ever non-stop commercial service between Australia and the Big Apple, as part of Project Sunrise.
Tickets for the inaugural Sydney to New York service are set to go on sale from August 2027. The ground-breaking flights will cut more than three hours off the total travel time compared with current one-stop services today, connecting Australia’s east coast to New York without a stop for the first time in history.
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https://www.ft.com/content/276f5264-c3e1-418b-8acc-cd3d4f1ed31b?syn-25a6b1a6=1
Qantas has said its nonstop, ultra-long flights will be profitable even with persistently higher jet fuel prices caused by the Iran war.
Chief executive Vanessa Hudson said a new fleet of planes capable of 22-hour flights will boost profits for the Australian airline by about A$400mn (US$285mn), despite fuel prices almost doubling since the start of the conflict.
“We’ve retested that business case and I think that some of the things that continue to make us confident about that number are that the demand for non-stop services continues to be incredibly strong,” she told the FT.
An airport spokesperson told this masthead that as part of the new zoning, the Melbourne Airport Assist program will extend its operating hours from 3am to 1am daily, and there will be designated pick-up and drop-off spaces for people requiring assistance.
The free drop-off zone will have a five-minute time limit, after which drivers will be redirected to the T123 carpark – where the first 15 minutes are free – or to a free 60-minute waiting zone.
The airport will also introduce pre-bookable Disability Discrimination Act parking spaces in the undercover carpark for individuals to park as close to the terminals as possible.
Melbourne Airport said it worked with accessibility consulting group Get Skilled Access to develop the program and prepare for the October 6 changes coming into effect.
Yep, he announced as such when he left. Not a bad gig, travelling the world!
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Initially thought to be a hijack.
An unnamed passenger tells the Jerusalem Post , external that one pilot was stabbed by another, but passengers near the front of the plane helped force the attacker from the cockpit.
Though unconfirmed.
The Jerusalem Post separately reported, citing Israeli officials, that the growing assessment was that the co-pilot attempted to hijack the aircraft with the intention of crashing it.
The spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that the incident involving a Flydubai aircraft carrying Israeli passengers, which led to the flight changing course, returning, and then landing in Saudi Arabia, was not a hijacking. Israeli media also… pic.twitter.com/kyTeB51ZTG
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) September 30, 2026
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Flydubai said its flights to and from Israel have been suspended while formal investigations are proceeding.
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