A year is a long time in aviation, and 2025 has seemed a longer year than most – what with the long-running Rex administration; Qantas' ongoing travails; Virgin Australia's tie-up with Qatar Airways and subsequent IPO; fleet renewals aplenty; and a deluge of other news.

Looking ahead, 2026 looms as what will doubtless be another huge year for the sector, including the opening of Western Sydney International Airport, the delivery of Qantas' first Project Sunrise jets, and the potential entry of new airlines to Australia's skies.

On the final regular Australian Aviation Podcast for this year, Jake and David reflect on what 2025 brought and what 2026 is set to bring – and wish you all the best for the holiday season.

Plus, a truly astonishing escape for a Queensland skydiver, and Qantas' newly-returned A380 is grounded again.

If there's one issue that never really goes away for Australia's aviation sector, it's airfares. Massive demand has pushed prices up, according to the ACCC, with October airfares at their highest since 2022, despite both Qantas Group and Virgin Australia adding extra capacity.

To make matters worse for those out west, the WA government is set to increase caps for regional airfares during "high-demand" periods, while the spectre of rising airfares also appears to have spooked Canberra into nixing plans for an EU-style "pay-on-delay" scheme.

On this week's Australian Aviation Podcast, Jake and David look at the factors putting the squeeze on Australian travellers' wallets, and whether newer, larger, and more efficient aircraft might bring some relief.

Plus, the last Qantas A380 comes home, skydiving instructors jump off the job, and is Australia playing catch-up on border processing technology?

If you were looking to fly anywhere in Australia this past weekend: we're so sorry to hear it. Between a fire at Melbourne Airport, the grounding of half of Jetstar's A320 fleet, and a nationwide passport processing outage, delays and cancellations plagued travellers for three days straight.

Now that everything has (thankfully) returned to normal, what exactly was the deal with that Airbus software update – and what does it mean for the workhorse A320, one of the most popular passenger aircraft types in the world?

On this week's podcast, Jake, David and Bethany sift through the ashes of a chaotic weekend in the skies, and analyse the aftermath of the A320 grounding.

Plus, Virgin's flirtation with ChatGPT, international traffic continues to surge, and how safe is it to step on board a hot-air balloon?