John Weekes

1 week ago | nzherald.co.nz | John Weekes

An Air NZ Boeing 777 veered off the runway at Auckland Airport. Photo / Wikipedia CommonsThe pilots’ union says freak weather during the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods contributed to a jetliner smashing into runway edge lights. The Air New Zealand plane was on a flight from Melbourne to Auckland and encountered heavy rain and volatile wind conditions. The Boeing 777 began to drift away from the centre line as it approached the runway in January 2023.

1 week ago | nzherald.co.nz | John Weekes

Auckland Airport says an upgrade could add almost 100,000 new seats for travellers on flights to regional New Zealand. And the airport says it is building flexibility for possible jet services to regional centres in the future. The upgrade, expected to finish in 2028, will cost an estimated $147 million. The sector has been under scrutiny lately for the high prices of domestic flights. Auckland Airport said the airfield upgrade should provide capacity for more regional travel.

1 week ago | nzherald.co.nz | John Weekes

Facebook New Zealand has released its result for the year to December 31, 2024. Photo / Nikolas Kokovlis, AFPFacebook New Zealand’s profit and revenue declined last year compared to 2023, according to its latest annual report. But Facebook NZ paid related party Meta Platforms Ireland $159.4 million for advertising, up from $157.4m the year before last. Facebook NZ said it paid $831,000 in tax.

1 week ago | nzherald.co.nz | John Weekes

Rocket Lab says it will acquire the parent holding company of a US national security satellite provider for US$275 million ($462m). It said the deal marked its formal entry into the satellite payload segment. Rocket Lab said it would buy the parent holding company of Geost, an Arizona-based electro-optical and infrared payload development and manufacturing company. Geost delivered sensor systems for missile warning and tracking, tactical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

1 week ago | nzherald.co.nz | John Weekes

Some complex airline problems might be solved with another type of aircraft now operating in an Auckland warehouse. Air New Zealand has teamed up with Spark, Ericsson and Canadian firm Cypher Robotics to deploy a robot-tethered drone. The airline and the telco said they worked together to create New Zealand’s first private 5G network for business. The size, height and complexity of the 5000sq m logistics warehouse has presented challenges to older forms of technology.