Gearing up for your next airfare? Well, you’re in luck, as Travel Weekly brings you its Tuesday special for all things aviation.

Virgin Australia announces infant baggage allowance

Virgin Australia has become the first Australian airline to allow its littlest travellers a dedicated checked baggage allowance when flying on domestic, international short haul and international long haul routes.

The change means that parents travelling with a child under 23-months-old on Virgin Australia operated flights can check-in one additional 23 kilograms bag free of charge, as well as two special infant items, such as a pram, cot, car seat or baby capsule.

Parents travelling with an infant are also welcome to bring an additional seven-kilogram carry-on bag for essential baby products.

Win a year of free travel with Jetstar

For all the cumulus enthusiasts across its global network, the Jetstar Group has today launched ‘A Year In The Clouds’; a competition searching for the most spectacular photos of clouds with one lucky winner taking home a year of free travel on the Jetstar network*.

Open to residents over 18 in regions across the Jetstar Group (including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam), A Year In The Clouds calls for entrants to share a creative snap featuring clouds to their own Instagram or the Jetstar Australia Facebook page using the hashtag #JetstarClouds.

For further details on the competition and how to enter, visit www.jetstar.com/clouds.

Hawaiian Airlines to launch new Maui-Las Vegas flights in December

Maui residents visiting Las Vegas will be able to fly straight to the popular Nevada destination when Hawaiian Airlines inaugurates its newest narrow-body Airbus A321neo aircraft route later this year.

The airline announced that it will begin four-times-weekly service between Maui’s Kahului Airport (OGG) and Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport (LAS) on 15 December.

The airline has also announced the start of sales for two other new A321neo routes, with three weekly nonstop services between Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) starting 7 January.

On top of that, Hawaiian will also offer a seasonal winter service between OGG and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) from 14 December through to 5 January.

The new flights complement existing daily nonstop service offered on each route with wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft.

Qantas partners with telco Vonex

Telecommunications company Vonex Limited is pleased to advise that it has launched its partnership with Qantas.

Vonex will operate as a VoIP and Hosted Phone System telco provider to the Qantas Business Rewards (QBR) program, which was first announced to the ASX on 19 June 2019.

Through this partnership, businesses of any size can now earn unlimited QBR points for every purchase made with Vonex’s monthly ONdesk cloud‐based phone plans.

As an added incentive, Qantas and Vonex have determined that business customers may earn between 2,000 and 5,000 bonus points for taking up ONdesk cloud‐based phone plans before 31 December this year, together with an ongoing monthly point earn.

Malindo Air launches Sydney service

Malindo Air has launched its Sydney service, with an inaugural flight to Sydney from Kuala Lumpur, OD171, having safely touched down in Sydney Airport last week.

Sydney marks the fifth city in Australia under Malindo Air’s network, after Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide.

The daily flights between Sydney and Kuala Lumpur, via Denpasar, are operated using a Boeing 737-800/900 aircraft, comprising 12 Business Class and 150/168 Economy Class seats.

To celebrate the launch of the service, Malindo Air is offering promotional return fares from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur from $502 for Economy Class and $1,962 for Business Class.

For flights from Sydney to Denpasar (Bali), promotional return fare is available from $399 for Economy Class and $1,699 for Business Class.

Singapore Airlines delivers lie-flat Business Class to all Australian destinations with deployment of A350-900 to Melbourne

Singapore Airlines has announced that from 1 November 2019, customers will be able to enjoy Premium Economy and lie-flat Business Class seats on all of the airline’s 36 weekly flights to and from Melbourne, with the introduction of the A350-900.

The introduction of the A350-900 on the SQ247/8 flight will also mean that Singapore Airlines will offer lie-flat Business Class seats on all services to and from Australia from 1 November.

Singapore Airlines’ regional vice president for the Southwest Pacific, Philip Goh, said the introduction of the A350-900 to Melbourne was the final piece in the product consistency puzzle for both Melbourne and Australia.

Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines increase capacity between Auckland and Singapore

Joint Venture partners Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines will boost capacity between Auckland and Singapore with an additional 35,000 seats between the end of March and October, commencing in 2020.

Air New Zealand will increase its frequency from 12 to 14 services per week on its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft from 29 March 2020 to 24 October 2020, bringing the total number of services the two alliance partners operate to 21 per week.

Singapore Airlines will also deploy its larger A380 aircraft to meet strong demand over the Easter 2020 peak, replacing its scheduled Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Tickets for the new Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines operated service are available for purchase.

Delta, Virgin Atlantic boost summer flying between US and UK in 2020

Delta is boosting its transatlantic schedule between London-Heathrow and its coastal hubs in Boston and New York-JFK next summer, adding 15 percent capacity compared to 2019.

Alongside joint venture partner Virgin Atlantic, the two airlines will increase capacity across the Atlantic by nearly 10,000 seats per week compared to this year, offering customers “unrivalled customer experience” and “more choice than ever before”.

Beginning 28 March, 2020, Delta will increase its JFK-Heathrow services to three daily year-round frequencies, with Virgin Atlantic operating five, maintaining a convenient eight-flights-daily schedule. The new Delta frequency will mark the airline’s first-ever daylight transatlantic flight and will complement the existing daylight service offered by Virgin Atlantic.

Avianca Brasil to exit Star Alliance

Brazilian airline Ocean Air Linhas Aéreas S/A, headquartered in São Paulo and formerly doing business as Avianca Brasil, will formally leave Star Alliance with effect from 1 September 2019.

Ocean Air’s withdrawal follows several months of bankruptcy protection and the withdrawal of its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) by Brazilian regulator ANAC.

The Star Alliance network maintains a significant and long-time presence in the Brazilian market continuously since its founding in 1997.

As of 1 September 2019, the Alliance will number 27 member airlines.

Western Sydney Airport: Freight industry onboard for airport opportunity

Ten of Australia’s major freight companies have entered memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with Western Sydney Airport.

The MOUs will see Western Sydney Airport work with the air freight industry to design concepts for an on-airport freight precinct and begin discussions about potential operations from Sydney’s new airport.

Freight companies signing up to work with Western Sydney Airport on concepts for the air freight hub include Australia Post (including StarTrack), DB Schenker, DHL Express, DSV Air and Sea, FedEx, Menzies Aviation, Swissport, Qantas Freight, Skyroad Logistics and Wymap.