Author: Matt Graham

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to more than 100 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course! Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine. You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.

Qatar Airways Boeing 777 in Adelaide

Qatar Airways’ Bizarre Daily Melbourne-Adelaide Flight

Since the beginning of October, Qatar Airways has been running a Boeing 777 every day from Melbourne to Adelaide and back without passengers.

Virgin Blue Boeing 737-800 in original red livery

Has Virgin Australia Had Its Goldilocks Moment?

In the seven years leading up to the pandemic, Virgin Australia never once made an annual profit. Already in a weak financial position, it didn’t take long after COVID-19 hit for Australia’s second-largest airline to enter voluntary administration. Virgin Australia had been a good airline that was popular with passengers, but for too long was … Continued

Embraer E190 in QantasLink colours at Adelaide Airport

QantasLink E190 Business Class Review (Adelaide-Darwin)

Last year, Qantas expanded its regional fleet by wet leasing Embraer E190 jets from Alliance Airlines. These aircraft are now being used on many regional routes across Australia, particularly out of Adelaide, Darwin, Alice Springs, Canberra and Townsville. The Embraer E190s flying for QantasLink have spacious cabins with Business and Economy seating. Economy seats are … Continued

Use Qantas Points to Fly on Bangkok Airways

Qantas Frequent Flyer members can now redeem their points for Classic Flight Reward seats on Bangkok Airways, a boutique airline based in Thailand. The expansion of Qantas’ partnership with Bangkok Airways was first announced in 2019 but delayed due to COVID-19. It’s now finally a reality. Classic Flight Reward seats in Economy Class are available … Continued

Inflight economy cabin passengers are getting food served in Qantas A330

8 Excellent (Non-First Class) Airline Meals

When flying international First Class, the meal service is designed to be a luxurious, multi-course dining experience. But you don’t necessarily have to be flying First to get great food on board! Because airline meals are generally produced on a mass scale and are often reheated from frozen, they can at times be quite awful. … Continued

Swiss A330 lands in Zurich with mountains in background

What Are The IATA Northern Winter & Summer Schedules?

Today marks the beginning of the 2022-23 IATA northern winter scheduling period. For passengers, this doesn’t really mean much – but it’s a significant date for airline schedulers. Many new airline route launches, cancellations or restarts are planned around the IATA scheduling seasons. With today heralding in the new IATA northern winter season, for example, … Continued

Qatar Airways Boeing 777 at Canberra Airport

Qatar Airways Stops Selling Flights to Canberra

Qatar Airways’ new route to Canberra could be dead in the water before it even started. In July of this year, Qatar Airways announced that it would launch daily flights from Doha to Canberra via Melbourne from 1 October 2022. But shortly before this route was due to launch, the Qatari airline announced that the … Continued

Retired pilot Ron Haack in his military flying days

Podcast #96: 49 Years in the Cockpit

Retired pilot Ron Haack flew for 49 years, starting his career in the Royal Australian Air Force and finishing up flying Airbus A330s and Boeing 747s for Qantas. In episode 96 of the AFF on Air podcast, Ron joins Matt for a chat about the life of a pilot and some of the more challenging … Continued

AFF on AIR podcast artwork

49 Years in the Cockpit – AIR096

  In the episode, Matt chats to Ron Haack, a recently retired pilot. Ron began his career in the Royal Australian Air Force and then flew for Qantas for 24 years, flying Airbus A330s and Boeing 747-400s.   Episode contents: 0:55 – Fortnightly news round-up 8:48 – Interview with Ron Haack 34:00 – Feedback from … Continued