Australian Border Force (ABF) officers were forced to manually process passengers at Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane international airports after a 14-hour e-gate outage disrupted travel ahead of the school holidays. The technical issue began around 9pm on Thursday, affecting both arriving and departing passengers. ABF deployed additional officers to manage queues while technicians worked to […]
Flight Centre Travel Group’s executive general manager of customer loyalty, Clinton Hearne, believes Australia’s looming payment reforms could open the door to new players in the travel loyalty market. Speaking to Travel Weekly ahead of the 1 October changes, Hearne said the reduction in interchange fees could create opportunities for travel companies to challenge established […]
The countdown is on for the Women in Travel Awards 2026, with just one week remaining to submit on-time entries before the Friday, 25 September deadline. The awards celebrate the women shaping Australia’s travel industry, recognising achievements across a range of sectors, from travel advisors and rising stars to marketers, sales leaders, executives and the […]
Aussietravelcover will introduce financial default protection and expand medical and cancellation cover as part of a travel insurance product overhaul launching on 22 September. The updated product includes Financial Default Protection on International Top Plus, an expanded list of automatically covered medical conditions and updated eligibility criteria. Multi-Journey policies will offer new maximum trip durations […]
Air New Zealand will boost capacity on its Hobart–Auckland route by 28 per cent when seasonal flights return in October. The airline will operate three flights a week for most of the season. It will increase services to four a week between 27 February and 20 March. The expanded schedule begins on 25 October 2026 […]
Lindblad Expeditions has acquired luxury aviation brand Echo Charlie and a 60 per cent stake in Antarctic travel company White Desert in the largest transaction in its history. The company paid approximately A$86 million (US$61 million) in cash for the two businesses, plus roughly A$8.5 million for cash on their balance sheets, as it expands […]
Journey Beyond has appointed former Commonwealth Bank CMO Jo Boundy as managing director, Resorts & Lodges. Boundy joins Journey Beyond with extensive senior leadership experience spanning travel and tourism, media and financial services, with a focus on customer and commercial strategy, transformation and growth. She most recently served as CMO at Commonwealth Bank. Before joining […]
Cruise growth is being shaped by earlier bookings, changing seasonality, demand for immersive experiences, and increasingly tailored products for travellers, a panel of experts inform a packed room at Australasia’s biggest cruise industry event, Cruise360 Australasia, which opened at ICC Sydney today. In front of an audience around 900 Australian and New Zealand members of […]
Travellers Choice members are set to receive a record $2.85 million rebate following a $3.11 million pre-tax profit for 2025/26. Managing Director Christian Hunter says the result represents an “exceptional performance” given the disruption caused in the second half of the financial year by the Middle East conflict. “Australians remained typically resilient and determined to […]
Flight Centre Travel Group has bought back its own shares on every trading day so far in September, as it continues its $200 million buyback program. The company has bought back close to one million shares since the beginning of the month, with daily ASX filings showing purchases continuing throughout September. On 14 September alone, […]