MARCH 18, 2026. AUSTRALIA

Taxpayers help British Airways start Melbourne flights

British Airways will commence daily flights to Melbourne (MEL) in early 2027 with help from Victoria’s taxpayers. The B787-9-operated services, which are an extension of BA's existing flights to Kuala Lumpur, will start on January 17.

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MARCH 17, 2026. SOLOMON ISLANDS

Solomon Airlines hits out at IASC’s Honiara decision

Solomon Airlines says it is extremely disappointed by an International Air Services Commission determination approving an application from Qantas to add another 194 seats per week on the Brisbane (BNE) – Honiara (HIR) city-pair.

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MARCH 16, 2026. PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Air Niugini to start Tokyo, Auckland flights in mid-2026

Air Niugini will resume flights to Tokyo Narita (NRT) and Auckland (AKL) in mid-2026. The airline last flew scheduled services to Tokyo six years ago and hasn’t regularly flown to Auckland since 1998.

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MARCH 16, 2026. AUSTRALIA

Qantas settles flight credits class action lawsuit

Qantas will pay AUD105 million (USD73.4 million) to settle a class action lawsuit stemming from the airline’s policy to issue flight credits rather than refunds when it cancelled flights during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Aero South Pacific Airport Briefs available for download

Aero South Pacific has released its first airport briefs covering Australia’s top 20 passenger airports. The briefs, which you can download for free, provide an informative snapshot of scheduled regular passenger transport and passenger charter activity at Australia’s busiest airports.

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  • Air Calédonie shutdown about to enter third week

    MARCH 13, 2026: The near total shutdown of Air Calédonie is about to enter its third week as protestors continue blockading Maré, Lifou, Ouvéa, and Isle of Pines Airports. Almost all domestic flights have been cancelled since March 2.

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  • Air New Zealand trims flights to offset fuel price shock

    MARCH 12, 2026: Air New Zealand will axe 1,100 flights between mid-March and early May 2026 in a bid to conserve fuel and cut costs. However, CEO Nikhil Ravishankar said no routes would get cut and that the airline would maintain regional connectivity.

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  • Asia Pacific Airlines seeks approval to fly to Manila

    MARCH 11, 2026: Aero Micronesia, trading as Asia Pacific Airlines, has applied to the US Department of Transportation for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to fly cargo and mail between Guam (GUM) and Manila (MNL) via Hong Kong (HKG).

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  • Operational efficiencies behind Nauru Airlines’ new schedule

    MARCH 11, 2026: The CEO of Nauru Airlines says operational efficiencies are behind a series of schedule changes. The changes will see some flights switch to different days, reduced frequencies on others and one route axed.

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March 2026 News Briefs

MARCH 18, 2026: Air Calédonie has furloughed around half its 200 employees to preserve cash. Ongoing airport blockades have forced the airline to cancel its scheduled domestic flights since March 2.

Read the news article here.

MARCH 18, 2026: Ahead of the arrival of Cyclone Narelle, Hinterland Aviation has cancelled scheduled services to Coen (CUQ) and Lockhart River (IRG) on March 20, 2026, and flagged the possible cancellation of flights to Cooktown (CTN).

Read the travel advisory here.

MARCH 17, 2026: Aircalin says it will temporarily raise fares up to 6% depending on the destination and travel class, in response to rising fuel costs. The increased prices will apply to tickets sold on and after March 17. The airline calls the increase "limited and controlled.”

Read the news story here.

MARCH 17, 2026: Fiji Airways CEO Paul Scurrah says the airline has no plans to cut frequencies or routes in response to rising fuel prices. He also says the airline is undecided about whether to apply a short-term fuel levy to fares but is monitoring the situation.

Read the news story here.

MARCH 12, 2026: The Tongan Government is re-examining ground handling services at Fuaʻamotu International Airport (TBU) after a failed attempt to renationalise the service last year. Ministry of Public Enterprises CEO Fotu Fisiiah says the government has identified “shortcomings” in how the process was handled.

Read the news story here.

MARCH 12, 2026: Papua New Guinea’s PM, James Marape, says the long overdue upgrade of the Madang Airport (MAG) passenger terminal will soon be complete. Work on upgrading the airport has been underway since 2008 but has experienced several delays, including contractual defaults.

Read the news story here.

MARCH 11, 2026: Alaska Airlines has appointed Andrew Stanbury as its South Pacific managing director. The Sydney-based Stanbury will oversee the performance of all routes across Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia and the Cook Islands.

Read the news release here.

MARCH 11, 2026: New Zealand’s Air Chathams has added a NZD20 fuel surcharge to its ticket prices as it warns rocketing fuel prices could add NZD1.6 million to its annual fuel bill. The Air Chathams announcement follows Air New Zealand increasing its ticket prices earlier this week because of fast rising fuel prices.

Read the news story here.

MARCH 10, 2026: Air New Zealand is suspending its earnings guidance for the six months to June 30, 2026, due to global jet fuel market volatility. Jet fuel prices, which were around USD85 to USD90 per barrel prior to the conflict, have increased sharply to between USD150 to USD200 per barrel in recent days. Air New Zealand is 83% hedged against Brent crude for the second half of the 2026 financial year. However, like most global airline peers, it remains exposed to movements in the crack spread.

Read the stock exchange filing here.

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MARCH 10, 2026. AUSTRALIA

Northern Star’s Jundee Airport now handling E190 aircraft

Northern Star Resources has completed an upgrade of the airport that services its Jundee mine, located about 800 kilometres north-east of Perth. As a result, the 2,095-metre asphalt runway is now handling E190 aircraft that ferry miners to and from Perth.

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MARCH 9, 2026. AUSTRALIA

Tim Jordan talks about gov’t response to Bonza’s collapse

The CEO of defunct Australian low-cost carrier Bonza has spoken about the Australian Government’s response to his airline’s collapse and the different response when Regional Express filed for voluntary administration three months later.

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March 2026 Aircraft Movements

MARCH 10, 2026: The final ex-Qantas Group DHC-8-Q300 acquired by Avmax has left Australia.  VH-TQE (msn 596) departed Alice Springs (ASP) on March 7, flying to Calgary (YYC) via Cairns (CNS), Majuro (MAJ), and Kapolei (JRF).

MARCH 2, 2026: Abelo has delivered an ATR72-500, VH-FVX (msn 762), to Air Navigator Group’s Australian subsidiary, Aerlink, to support their fly-in-fly-out operations. The aircraft ferried from Toulouse (QYF) to Perth (PER) between February 20 – 27, 2026

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MARCH 9, 2026. AUSTRALIA

AirAsia axes Darwin flights, adds new Melbourne route

AirAsia is making changes to its Australian flights that it says demonstrates its commitment to the market. Among the changes are a new Denpasar  – Melbourne service and the axing of short-lived flights to Darwin from Denpasar and Kuala Lumpur.

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March 2026 Route Briefs

MARCH 17, 2026: British Airways will start daily B787-9 operated London Heathrow (LHR) - Melbourne (MEL) via Kuala Lumpur (KUL) round-trips on January 9, 2027.

MARCH 17, 2026: Air Tahiti will operate a third weekly ATR-operated Papeete (PPT) – Rarotonga (RAR) round-trip between July 6 and August 3, 2026.

MARCH 13, 2026: SriLankan Airlines will increase its daily A330-300 operated Melbourne (MEL) - Colombo (CMB) round-trips to 11 per week, effective August 2, 2026.

MARCH 10, 2026: China Southern Airlines will begin code sharing with Qantas on the latter airline’s Sydney (SYD) – Darwin (DRW) and Brisbane (BNE) – Darwin routes, effective March 29, 2026.

MARCH 10, 2026: Air Tahiti Nui will grow its code sharing arrangement with Qantas, adding its TN flight designator to Qantas’s Auckland (AKL) – Adelaide (ADL) and Auckland – Perth (PER) flights from early March 2026.

MARCH 9, 2026: China Eastern Airlines will operate daily A330-200 round-trips between Shanghai (PVG) and Brisbane (BNE) this upcoming southern winter rather than the previously planned five weekly round-trips.

MARCH 6, 2026: AirAsia Indonesia will launch daily A320-200 operated Denpasar (DPS) – Melbourne (MEL) round-tips on March 20, 2026.

MARCH 5, 2026: Aero Dili will commence twice-weekly A319/320 operated round-trips on the Dili (DIL) – Kuala Lumpur (KUL) city pair on March 28, 2026.

MARCH 4, 2026: Aero Dili will start twice-weekly Airbus A319/320 operated Dili (DIL) - Darwin (DRW) round-trips on May 24, 2026.

MARCH 4, 2026: Air Tahiti Nui will begin twice weekly B787-9 operated Papeete (PPT) – Sydney (SYD) round-trips from December 14, 2026.

MARCH 4, 2026: Air Asia will end its thrice-weekly A320-200neo operated round-trips between Kuala Lumpur (KUL) and Darwin (DRW) on April 28, 2026.

MARCH 4, 2026: Air Asia will end its thrice-weekly A320-200 operated round-trips between Denpasar (DPS) and Darwin (DRW) on April 28, 2026.

MARCH 4, 2026: Qantas will scale back its daily A380-800 operated round-trips between Sydney (SYD) and Los Angeles (LAX) to six per week between November 1, 2026, and March 13, 2027.

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MARCH 6, 2026. PALAU

USTDA steps in to help fund Palau Airport improvements

The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has awarded an undisclosed amount of technical assistance funding to the Palau National Aviation Administration to help improve Palau’s aviation capacity and safety.

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