Updated agreement opens up potential Middle Eastern flights for Western Sydney
Australia’s federal government has updated its air services agreements with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which clear the way for seven return services from Qatar and the UAE each week into the soon-to-open Western Sydney International Airport.
Currently, Western Sydney International is due to begin international flights in October, with the first flights being to Auckland on Air New Zealand, followed by flights to Singapore in late November on Singapore Airlines.
New convention centre for Timor-Leste
A new convention centre in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, has broken ground.
The new waterfront building in a former port precinct will include auditoriums, exhibition halls and meeting rooms, with an aquarium and a Ferris wheel part of the wider development.
The convention centre progress comes ahead of Timor-Leste hosting a variety of gatherings for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2029, when it will take on the chairmanship. This follows Timor-Leste joining the association late last year.
“Alongside our ASEAN commitments, this new convention facility will provide a major boost to Timor-Leste’s growing tourism sector by giving us the capacity to host large regional and international meetings and events,” said Timor-Leste’s director general of tourism, Antonio da Silva.
“It will also strengthen our ability to attract the high-value meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) market across Southeast Asia.”
Wellington’s convention centre marks three years in business
At the end of May, Wellington’s convention centre Tākina hit three years of operation, following an opening in mid-2023.
Over that time, the venue has driven NZ$120 million in economic impact for New Zealand’s capital and welcomed 119,758 business events delegates to 306 events.
The centre has served up more than one million pastries and 5,400kg of beef as well as donating 7,800 portions of food to the local Kaibosh Food Rescue.
With a public exhibition offering on its ground floor, the centre has seen more than 300,000 exhibition attendees through the doors.
“Tākina was created as a place to bring people together and three years on, that vision is alive in every event, every exhibition and every connection made here,” said WellingtonNZ’s chief executive, Mark Oldershaw.
