The Australia Desk

The federal government are contemplating a proposal to allow foreign airlines carry domestic passengers between locations north of the Tropic of Capricorn (eg: Cairns, Darwin, Townsville, etc). So, can a reduction in cabotage restrictions in the north end lead to sabotage of domestic operations? Just for a change, the unions, the airlines and many others are all aligning to tell the government that their idea sucks! Virgin Australia’s CEO John Borghetti has waded into the battle with a stark warning.

Meanwhile, over the weekend Grant stayed up late to watch Matt Hall come in third in the Red Bull Air Race at Rovinj in Croatia. After appearing to be knocked out of the running by Nigel Lamb during the Round of 14, Matt was able to get into the Round of 8 by being the “fastest loser” at which point he flew the fastest time of the day through the track, putting the pressure on Paul Bonhomme who made one critical error & got disqualified. From there it was on to the Final 4 where Matt flew well but couldn’t pip out Hannes Arch & Martin Sonka. We play a few excerpts from the coverage that were supplied supplied by the Red Bull Radio Service.

Finally we wrap up with a couple of quick stories about the RAAF:

• The Wedgetail E-7 AEW&C aircraft has attained Final Operational Capacity
• The first of two new RAAF C17s has been sighted at Longbeach