JANUARY 30, 2026: The 1990’s era passenger terminal at Port Vila’s Bauerfield International Airport could be upgraded to handle increase passenger numbers. Vanuatu Airports Limited CEO Jason Rakau says the work should start later this year after scoping and design work is done and the funding gets locked in.

JANUARY 29, 2026: Jetstar has sent a B787-8 to Hong Kong for a cabin refurbishment. The aircraft, VH-VKK (msn 36237) ferried up from Melbourne (MEL) on January 26, 2026. The flight is a first step in a project that will see all eleven Jetstar B787-8s refurbished by the end of the year.

JANUARY 28, 2026: Matthew Findlay will become the new Solomon Airlines CEO, effective February 16, 2026. Findlay is currently the director of global markets at Ailevon Pacific Aviation Consulting. He will take over from interim Solomon Airlines CEO Paul Abbot, who has manned the hot seat since the departure of Sean Te'o in mid-2025.

JANUARY 28, 2026: Melbourne Airport is closing its 2,286 metre east-west runway at night for up to seven months to enable “once-in-a-decade” maintenance work to occur. The closure took effect from January 21, 2026, and sees single-runway operations happening between 10.00pm and 6.00am.

JANUARY 28, 2026: Seven years after ICAO raised concerns following an aviation audit, the Fijian Government will introduce a bill to resolve them. According to a recently released public consultation notice, the proposed Civil Aviation Bill (2026), will modernise, consolidate, and improve the country’s civil aviation regulatory framework.

JANUARY 27, 2026: Saipan-based Star Marianas Air has escalated its long-running legal stoush with local airport operator, the Commonwealth Ports Authority, by lodging a Part 16 Complaint with the FAA. The complaint alleges the CPA has systematically failed to abide by federal statutory and grant assurances since 2009.

JANUARY 27, 2026: Aero Dili has started scheduled passenger flights to Fuzhou (FOC). It is the Timor-Leste based airline’s second destination in Mainland China and highlights the deepening economic relationship between the two countries.

JANUARY 26, 2026: Auckland Airport says the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year period will see some airlines increase capacity to the airport. Six airlines operate scheduled passenger services between Auckland and China. These airlines typically average 35 flights per week over the year, but this will spike 18% across January and February.

JANUARY 26, 2026: A Virgin Australia Group company, Virgin Australia International Airlines Pty Ltd, has applied to Australia’s International Air Services Commission for permission to code share with China Southern Airlines on flights between Australia and New Zealand and Australia and Vanuatu.

JANUARY 23, 2026: The New Zealand Government has ditched plans to build an airport at remote Tokelau. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said the high cost of the project and a constrained fiscal environment had scuttled the plan.

JANUARY 22, 2026: Air Niugini will suspend flights to and from Kiunga Airport (UNG) in Papua New Guinea’s Western Province while a runway upgrade takes place. The service suspension will start on January 24, 2026, and run through to an unspecified date in July.

JANUARY 22, 2026: Five Australian airports have recently released updated passenger traffic data, reporting record passenger numbers for December 2025 and, in some cases, record passenger numbers for the year.

JANUARY 21, 2026: The first of two refurbished Air Vanuatu DHC-6-300 Twin Otters have arrived in Port Vila. Flight tracking data shows the plane landing in Vanuatu on January 20, 2026, after ferrying from Santa Maria (SMX) to Port Vila (VLI) via Hilo (ITO) and Pago Pago (PPG).

JANUARY 20, 2026: Qantas has secured three mid-life E190-100s that will work fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) contracts and regular passenger transport services within Western Australia.

JANUARY 20, 2026: Solomon Airlines will increase frequencies on existing international routes and debut two new routes in the first half of 2026. The airline will start flights to Port Moresby in neighbouring Papua New Guinea on March 31, 2026, as well as twice weekly flights between Port Vila and Christchurch on July 1.

JANUARY 19, 2026: Qantas will start flying the A220-300 on the Adelaide (ADL) – Brisbane (BNE) city pair on March 3, 2026. It will be the first time Qantas has operated the aircraft type out of Adelaide and it happens one year after the airline first put the regional jets into service.

JANUARY 19, 2026: Lionel Guérin will become the new CEO of Air Tahiti Nui. A draft decree has submitted to the French Polynesian Government’s Budgetary and Financial Control Committee, which is expected to tick off on the appointment early this week.

JANUARY 16, 2026: East Air has ceased operating scheduled passenger flights between Cairns (CNS) and Hamilton Island (HTI) less that two months after debuting the service. The small Cairns-based operator says it will pivot back to charter flights.

JANUARY 15, 2026: Air Niugini will increase its Port Moresby (POM) – Sydney (SYD) round-trips to three per week and deploy its brand new A220-300s onto the route - in the same week that Qantas resumes flights on the city pair.

JANUARY 14, 2026: Fiji Airways most recent ATR72 delivery was obtained from Dubai Aerospace (DAE) on a 12-year operating lease.

JANUARY 14, 2026: Aviation infrastructure in the Solomon Islands received a boost this week after the World Bank and Solomon Islands Government handed over ground service equipment at Honiara International Airport (HIR) on January 12, 2026.

JANUARY 13, 2026: Papua New Guinea’s Accident Investigation Commission (AIC) has begun an investigation into a runway excursion involving an Adventist Aviation Services PAC 750 XSTOL aircraft on January 9, 2026.

JANUARY 13, 2026: Malaysia Airlines has firmed up its plans to deploy additional A330-900N services in an out of Australia in 2026, including to Adelaide from April, to Perth in June, and Brisbane in August.

JANUARY 12, 2026: Four North Queensland airports have re-opened after a significant weather event over the weekend. Airlines cancelled flights as Townsville (TSV), Proserpine (PPP), Mackay (MKY), and Hamilton Island (HTI) Airports closed down ahead of Cyclone Koji.

JANUARY 12, 2026: Minister for Nauru Airlines Asterio Appi says the state-owned carrier will make some significant changes in 2026 as part of an business-wide review that will put an end to any business as usual thinking at the airline.

JANUARY 9, 2026: Air Tahiti Nui needs to get its house in order if it is serious about attracting a foreign investment partner, according to French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson, who welcomed in the new year by sacking the airline’s CEO, Philippe Marie.

JANUARY 8, 2026: The first of two DHC-6-300 Twin Otters expected by Air Vanuatu by the end of 2025 has failed to arrive despite a mid-December social media post by the Prime Minister’s office promoting the expected delivery date.

JANUARY 7, 2026: Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) has ended Fokker 100 operations. The last two F100s in the fleet operated their final flights in late December and are now parked at Perth (PER) awaiting transfer to their new owner.

JANUARY 6, 2026: Fuel unavailability at Funafuti Airport (FUN) in Tuvalu and Vava’u Airport (VAV) in Tonga is forcing Fiji Airways to carry additional fuel onboard when flying to those airports.

JANUARY 6, 2026: The Queensland State Government is taking credit for attracting additional international flights to the state, saying four carriers have recently decided to launch or expand services to Queensland due to the Connecting Queensland Fund

JANUARY 5, 2026: Air Calédonie has sold one of its four ATR72-600s, with the airline’s CEO saying the sale was a cash saving measure.

JANUARY 5, 2026: China Southern Airlines closed out 2025 with a significant expansion of its Australia services, cementing itself as the country's dominant Chinese airline.