Australian Aviation Podcast Network

After 30 years criss-crossing regional Queensland, it's the end of the road for Skytrans – not for the airline itself, which will keep flying, but for the name. New owner Avia Solutions Group is rebranding the carrier as SmartLynx Australia, echoing some of its other brands overseas.

Along with the name change will come a new paint job for the airline's existing aircraft, with the Skytrans livery to be covered in neutral white, allowing the planes to be more easily used for wet leasing and charter flights when needed – but for Queenslanders who know and love the Skytrans brand, will the change prove a turn-off?

Jake and guest host David Hollingworth examine the pros and cons of the change, and whether all-white planes are an appealing prospect for passengers.

Plus, scrappy upstart Koala Airlines is back in the news – but does its ambition of launching domestic services by the end of next year hold much water?

It's the bombshell the aviation industry never saw coming, one that has shaken the sector to its core: after five and a half years at Australian Aviation, renowned luminary and thought leader Adam Thorn is leaving Momentum Media.

Over the course of his tenure, Adam has seen COVID-19 shutdowns, travel chaos, and the collapse of multiple Australian airlines – and while he'll still be leading the print magazine, in many ways it's the end of an era, a seismic shift rivalling even the exit of Alan Joyce from Qantas in 2023.

Co-hosts Jake Nelson and Benjamin Foster join Adam to reflect on half a decade at the helm of Australian Aviation and what comes next.

Plus, the Ansett brand has been resurrected – but is an "AI-powered" travel booking site really the best use for it?

They've become an indispensable part of our modern digital lives, but airlines are increasingly wary of portable lithium batteries and power banks, which can have an alarming tendency to catch fire if damaged or short-circuited.

Though power banks are already required to be carried in cabin luggage to ensure easy access if something goes wrong, some carriers have gone further, banning their use and charging entirely during flights – and Virgin Australia may be next, after a bag burst into flames in an overhead locker on a flight to Hobart.

As in-seat charging ports become more common, Adam and Jake plug in to the issue and ask: is banning in-flight power bank use a reasonable safety step or an overreaction?

Plus, regional airports are becoming international gateways as travellers and airlines look to bypass the big city hubs, and how can we bring the "glamour" back to aviation careers?

Sydney Airport has a new slot manager, one with no ties to the big domestic airlines … and yet, Qantas Group has still nabbed the majority of available take-off and landing slots over the end-of-year peak, with Virgin a distant second.

With 52 per cent of the slots allocated to Qantas and Jetstar, the Flying Kangaroo's dominance at Sydney continues – but might this put to bed the idea that the old slot manager was too cosy with the major airlines?

Adam and Jake dig into the data and ask whether the great Sydney slot debate will ever go away.

Plus, what went wrong in a disastrous Melbourne drone show two years ago that saw 427 drones plummet into the Yarra?

It's been just over a week since Qantas suffered a major data breach, with cyber criminals stealing a trove of customer data from a call centre including names, email addresses and frequent flyer numbers.

The reputational shellacking is one the Flying Kangaroo certainly didn't need, but has the backlash been fair, and what has Qantas been doing to protect customers in the wake of the attack?

Adam and Jake are joined by special guest David Hollingworth from Cyber Daily to discuss the impact and aftermath of the hack, and how you can protect your data.

Plus, Huey Award laureate Hinterland Aviation is up for sale – who might snap up the much-loved regional carrier?

After a long wait and a marathon ferry flight from Hamburg, Qantas' first A321XLR, VH-OGA, has finally touched down in Australia, a significant step in the Flying Kangaroo's "Project Winton" fleet renewal.

It's the beginning of the end for Qantas' ageing 737-800 fleet, even as the airline looks to acquire a few more "mid-life" 737s to tide it over as it waits – and with a range of 8,700km, compared to around 5,000km on the 737-800, might the A321XLR fleet fly internationally as well as domestically?

Adam and Jake discuss the latest on Qantas' fleet changes, including plans to replace QantasLink's Fokker 100s with Embraer E190s, and what the A321XLR might do for the national carrier beyond Australia's shores.

Plus, a "rain bomb" blows a massive hole in Sydney Airport's schedule – is the new two-hour recovery period enough to mitigate the disruptive effects of wild weather?

It was a day five years in the making for Virgin Australia, and it went off without a hitch: Australia's second-largest airline group is finally back on the ASX, with CEO Dave Emerson ringing the bell for its IPO on Tuesday.

The relisting caps off a remarkable turnaround for Virgin Australia after it collapsed into administration in 2020 during COVID-19 – but now that the long road back to public trading is over, what's next for the carrier?

Adam and Jake discuss how Virgin got back on its feet, how it's changed its business model, and where its future might take it.

Plus, with tensions in the Middle East playing havoc with flights through the region, should airlines be looking at more connecting hubs between Australia and Europe?

Almost 40 years after its rebranding as Australian Airlines – and just over 30 years after its merger with Qantas – a consortium is planning to bring back Trans Australia Airlines, or TAA, with an ambitious plan that would see Rex become the resurrected airline's regional arm.

While Rex's administrator has knocked back Renaissance Partners' dark-horse bid a second time, the firm is not yet giving up on its goal of turning Darwin into a hub for incoming flights from Australia's north – but could it actually work?

Adam and Jake discuss the plan for the new TAA, what it might do for passengers, and whether it could avoid Australia's ever-growing airline graveyard.

Plus, Virgin's IPO finally hits the runway next week, big milestones at Western Sydney International Airport, and why the Air India crash doesn't necessarily spell doom for the Dreamliner.

With co-host Jake Nelson off sick, Australian Aviation has had to improvise for this week's podcast.

But what a treat we have for you. Two weeks ago, Australian Aviation's sister brand, Space Connect, hosted its Australian Space Summit & Exhibition, otherwise known as AusSpace 25.

In our best panel, regular host Adam Thorn moderated a panel with three Australian astronauts, with the questions asked by schoolchildren.

Paul Scully-Power was Australia's first-ever astronaut, who went to space in 1984. Eric Philips blasted off to space on a private SpaceX mission in April, while Katherine Bennell-Pegg was the first astronaut to formally qualify under the Australian flag.

With Western Sydney International Airport still a year and a half from opening, an unexpected alternative might be about to hit the congested NSW market: Newcastle Airport, a couple of hours north of Sydney, will soon have flights to Perth and Bali with more routes potentially on the way.

The news will not only allow Hunter Region residents to travel further afield without having to make the trek down to Sydney, it could also give Sydneysiders an alternative to the city's own crowded airport while WSI finishes construction, providing to Sydney what Gold Coast Airport does to Brisbane.

As Newcastle Airport nears completion on its ambitious international terminal redevelopment, Adam and Jake look at what it might do for commercial aviation on the east coast.

Plus, after the tumult of the last few years, is Qantas finally climbing its way out of a massive public trust deficit?