AUGUST 31, 2026. FRENCH POLYNESIA

Motu Link eyes mid-September restart, hunting for second ATR

French Polynesian start-up Motu Link Airline hopes to resume flights by mid-September after its sole ATR72-500F was damaged while being towed in June. The carrier is also seeking a second ATR72 freighter as it looks to expand its domestic network and launch international services.

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AUGUST 31, 2026. NEW CALEDONIA

Prosecutor warns against renewed Lifou Airport blockade

New Caledonia’s top prosecutor has warned protesters they could face criminal charges if they resume blockading Lifou Island Airport this week. The warning comes as a local traditional leaders clash over the decision to restart the blockade and battle for control of the protesters.

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  • Japan Airlines, ZIPAIR urge US Gov’t to keep Midway Atoll open  

    AUGUST 28, 2026: Japan Airlines and ZIPAIR have urged the US Government to keep Midway Atoll Airport available as an ETOPS alternate, warning its loss would severely affect trans-Pacific operations. The carriers say the remote airport is critical for flights between Japan, Hawaii and mainland North America.

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  • Qantas posts $1.3bn profit, speeds up A380 retirement timeline

    AUGUST 28, 2026: The Qantas Group has posted an AUD1.29 billion after-tax profit despite increased fuel costs and weaker business travel. The airline also confirmed it will bring forward its first A380 retirements to FY28 as new A350s and B787s start to join the fleet.

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  • Alliance Airlines seeks $40 million to fund strategic reset

    AUGUST 27, 2026: Alliance Airlines is raising AUD40.1 million through an institutional placement and entitlement offer to cut debt and top up working capital. News of the capital raising came on the same day that Alliance announced an underlying profit before tax of AUD38.2 million for the year ending June 30, 2026.

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  • Search continues for missing Air Frontier Beechcraft Baron  

    AUGUST 27, 2026: Search and rescue teams are continuing efforts to locate an Air Frontier Beechcraft Baron that crashed into the Gulf of Carpentaria on Tuesday. The pilot, the aircraft’s sole occupant, remains missing as police, divers, aircraft, and marine vessels scour the remote region for wreckage.

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Alliance Airlines E190-100 at Darwin Airport

August 2026 News Briefs

AUGUST 31, 2026: Northern Territory Police have called off the search for missing 24-year-old pilot Bob Bramley who is believed to have died when his Air Frontier Beechcraft Baron crashed into the Gulf of Carpentaria on August 25. Search and rescue teams have found aircraft debris on the seabed floor but no trace of the pilot.

Read the news report here.

AUGUST 28, 2026: Air New Zealand has announced a statutory before tax loss of NZD336 million for the 12 months ending June 30, 2026. The airline says rising jet fuel prices, engine availability challenges, and aviation system and maintenance costs contributed to the loss.

Read the news release here.

AUGUST 28, 2026: Virgin Australia Holdings Limited, trading as Virgin Australia, has reported a statutory after tax profit of AUD501 million for the 12 months to June 30, 2026. The company said the result was due to strong customer demand, disciplined capacity growth, effective fuel hedging, and continued benefits from its transformation program.

Read the news release here.

AUGUST 28, 2026: Textron Aviation has received Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) Part 145 approval for its Australian maintenance organisation. The approval applies across Textron Aviation's OEM-owned service centre network in Melbourne, Perth and the Gold Coast.

Read the news release here.

AUGUST 28, 2026: Alliance Aviation Holdings Limited, trading as Alliance Airlines, says it has successfully completed the institutional component of its AUD40 million capital raising. The airline raised approximately AUD33 million from institutional investors with a price of AUD0.70 per new share. Alliance says it received considerable interest from existing and new institutional shareholders.

Read the stock exchange filing here.

AUGUST 27, 2026: Christchurch Airport (CHC) has delivered a strong financial result for the year ended 30 June 2026, with strong passenger and commercial growth, major infrastructure delivery and a record reported underlying operating profit after tax, up more than 30% to NZD64.9 million.

Read the news release here.

AUGUST 26, 2026: Queensland charter airlines Horizon Airways has signed an order for a second Tecnam P2012 STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) aircraft. It is expected to join the fleet by the end of 2026 and will be the second P2012to be operated by Horizon.

Read the news release here.

AUGUST 25,2026: Alliance Aviation Services Limited, trading as Alliance Airlines, has requested a trading halt on the Australian Securities Exchange following reports it is preparing to undertake a capital raising. In its filing, the company confirmed it is “contemplating” the capital raising.

Read the filing here.

AUGUST 25, 2026: The Australian Government has appointed former Qantas fleet Captain, James Miller as a Commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) for a three year term, and re-appointed Angus Mitchell as Chief Commissioner and CEO to the ATSB Commission for a further five-year term.

Read the news release here.

AUGUST 24, 2026: New Zealand’s Queenstown Airport (ZQN) had reported an after tax profit of NZD9.1 million for the 12 months to June 30, 2026, against revenues of NZD87.1 million. The airport handled a record 2.82 million passenger movements during the year, including more than a million international passenger movements for the first time.

Read the news release here.

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AUGUST 26, 2026. VANUATU

Air Vanuatu’s ATR72 back in the air after engine change

Air Vanuatu’s sole ATR72-600 is returning to service after an engine change in Cairns. The aircraft ferried back to Port Vila yesterday, August 25, and will shortly resume domestic flights. Its absence required Air Vanuatu to wet-lease a Twin Otter from Solomon Airlines to maintain its schedules.

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AUGUST 26, 2026. NEW ZEALAND

Originair ending Westport flights without further support  

Originair will end its twice-weekly Wellington - Westport flights this week as a three-month support package expires. CEO Robert Inglis says the airline cannot continue operating the loss-making route without government or regional assistance and is seeking changes to an existing aviation support scheme.

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August 2026 Aircraft Movements

AUGUST 31, 2026: The first of four B737-800(BCF)s heading to ASL Airlines Australia has been identified. The first aircraft, VH-AZ4 (msn 32686), was spotted at Shannon Airport (SNN) last week and is expected to start ferrying to Australia later this week. The jet most recently operated for ASL Airlines Ireland and was registered as EI-HRB.

AUGUST 27, 2026: The Qantas Group is ferrying its fourteenth A220-300 to Australia. The aircraft, VH-X4N (msn 55463), departed Montreal (YMX) on August 24 bound for Canberra (CBR) via Vancouver (YVR), Honolulu (HNL), and Nadi (NAN). The A220 will be operated by wholly-owned Qantas subsidiary National Jet Systems and is painted in QantasLink livery.

AUGUST 24, 2026: The Qantas Group is ferrying in another DHC-8-Q400. The aircraft, C-FOWE (msn 4471) is currently at Honolulu (HNL) enroute to Brisbane (BNE) via Majuro (MAJ), having ferried to Hawaii from Sault Ste Marie (YAM) via Victoria (YYJ). The aircraft, to be re registered as VH-84I, becomes the Qantas Group’s forty second active Q400. It will be operated by wholly-owned subsidiary Sunstate Airlines in QantasLink livery.

AUGUST 21, 2026: GAM Air is ferrying its third Beech 1900D freighter to Australia. At the time of publication, the aircraft, VH-YJQ (msn UE-208) has left Hilo (ITO), having flown in from Provo (PVU). It will continue to Coolangatta/Gold Coast (OOL) via Apia (APW) on August 21. GAM’s 1900D freighters operate for Team Global Express, mostly within Queensland.

AUGUST 20, 2026: Virgin Australia is presently ferrying its twenty fourth B737-8 to Australia. The aircraft, VH-8IP (msn 67047) departed Melbourne (MLB) on August 18 bound for Brisbane (BNE) via Ontario (ONT) and Honolulu (HNL). Virgin has another two MAX 8s to ferry in before its order of that type is fully delivered.

AUGUST 17, 2026: A retired QantasLink F100 is ferrying to Wollongong (WOL) from Perth (PER) via Kalgoorlie (KGI). The Qantas Group has donated the aircraft, VH-NPU (msn 11502), to the HARS Museum. It will arrive in Wollongong in the afternoon of August 17. VH-NPU ended revenue flights in July.

AUGUST 11, 2026: National Jet Express is preparing to ferry its ninth E190-100 to Australia. The aircraft, N110BZ (msn 19000075) was recently repainted in National Jet Express colours and at the time of publication, is at Miami (OPF). It will be entered into the Australian aircraft register as VH-8EC.

AUGUST 10, 2026: PNG Air is ferrying in its fourth ATR42-600. At the time of publication, the aircraft, P2-ATQ (msn 1219) is at Muscat (MCT) enroute to Port Moresby (POM), having flown from Toulouse (QLF) via Malta (MLA) and Jeddah (JED).

AUGUST 10, 2026: New Zealand’s Glenorchy Air has taken delivery of its first Tecnam P2012 after a marathon ferry flight Capua (QIJ) to Auckland (AKL) via Rome (QUI), Lille (LIL), Paris (BVA), Reykjavik (RKV), Goose Bay (YYR), Quebec (YQB), St. Catharines (YCM), Buffalo (BUF), Houghton Lake (HTL), Hollister (HLI), Kona (KOA), and Pago Pago (PPG). After receiving its local certification, the aircraft, T7-NZL (msn 091) will be registered as ZK-JTK.

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AUGUST 25 2026. NEW CALEDONIA

Aircalin brings in Wamos A330-300 after wave of disruptions

Aircalin has wet-leased a Wamos Air A330-300 after simultaneous technical problems with its two A330-900s caused chaos with cascading flight cancellations and delays. The Wamos A330 flew to Nouméa late last week and was operating Aircalin revenue flights with 24 hours of arrival.

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August 2026 Route Briefs

AUGUST 31, 2026: Hong Kong Air Cargo has started weekly A330-200 freighter round-trips between Hong Kong (HKG) and Brisbane (BNE), effective August 29.

AUGUST 28, 2026: Fiji Airways will end its twice-weekly B737-8 operated Nadi (NAN) – Canberra (CBR) round-trips on February 5, 2027,citing challenging market conditions.

AUGUST 27, 2026: Maldivian will continue its weekly A330-200 operated seasonal flights between Melbourne (MEL) and Malé (MLE) throughout 2027. The airline runs the services on behalf of tour operator Luxury Escapes.

AUGUST 27, 2026: Batik Air Malaysia will restart A330-300-operated Kuala Lumpur (KUL) – Melbourne (MEL) round trips on December 1, 2026. Initially operating five times per week, frequencies will increase to daily services on December 13. Batik Air Malaysia formerly flew the route until August 2025.

AUGUST 26, 2026: Jetstar flew its first B787-8 operated Melbourne (MEL) – Colombo (CMB) – Melbourne service yesterday, August 25. The new flights will operate three times per weel.

AUGUST 25, 2026: China Eastern Airlines will increase double daily Shanghai (PVG) – Sydney (SYD) round-trips to triple daily services between December 11, 2026, and February 15, 2027. Two services will be operated by an A330-300 and one service by the A350-900.

AUGUST 25, 2026: China Southern Airlines will increase double daily Guangzhou (CAN) – Sydney (SYD) round-trips to triple daily services between October 25, 2026, and November 30, 2027. Two services will be operated by an A330-300 and one service by the A350-900. Services will increase to four times daily between December 1, 2026, and February 28, 2027, with two flights operated by a B787-9 and two round-trips operated by the A350-900.

AUGUST 24, 2026: Airnorth will operate an additional flight every Tuesday between September 22 and December 22, 2026, on the Perth (PER) – Alice Springs (ASP) city-pair, as well as on the scheduled Darwin (DRW) Tennant Creek (TCA) - Alice Springs - Tennant Creek  Darwin rotation.

AUGUST 21, 2026: AirAsia X will axe its Kuala Lumpur (KUL – Sydney (SYD) services, effective October 25. The low-cost carrier cites increased cost pressures, softer demand and the need to strategically align its network and fleet.

AUGUST 20, 2026: Korean Air will run thrice-weekly seasonal B787-9 operated Seoul (ICN) - Melbourne (MEL) round-trips between December 18, 2026, and March 14, 2027.

AUGUST 20, 2026: Jetstar will increase its planned flights on the Coolangatta/Gold Coast (OOL) – Western Sydney (WSI) city-pair from four to seven per week. The recently announced services will start on October 25.

AUGUST 20, 2026: Airnorth will extend its seasonal Saturday E170-operated round-trips between Kununurra (KNX) and Perth (PER) to December 19, 2026, rather than October 31, as previously planned. 

AUGUST 19, 2026: Korean Air will add a fifth weekly B787-9-operated round-trip on the Seoul (ICN) – Brisbane (BNE) city-pair, effective December 20, 2026.

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AUGUST 24, 2026. FIJI

Contaminated fuel worsens Nadi Airport supply shortage

A fuel contamination issue at Nadi has deepened an existing jet fuel shortage at the airport, forcing airlines to tanker in extra fuel, deploy larger aircraft, and reroute or cancel flights. The Fiji Government has also released 1.3 million litres from its threadbare reserves while awaiting its next fuel shipment.

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AUGUST 24, 2026. PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Papua New Guinea completes $17.3m Gurney Airport upgrade

Papua New Guinea has completed a USD17.3 million upgrade of Alotau/Gurney Airport (GUR), the first airport project finished under CADIP II. The improvements include a new terminal and an upgraded runway, with the government eyeing future international flights from Brisbane to boost tourism.

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