SERVICES

1st Fleet, an Australian trucking company that operates in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, locked out about 1,000 workers and ceased trading overnight without any warning on Wednesday night.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) expressed on Friday its opposition to plans for the relaxation of fatigue standards for train drivers in New South Wales from the current 12-hour maximum.

Flag carrier Qantas is on an apparent collision course with the New South Wales (NSW) government insofar as the construction of a second Sydney airport is concerned.

To address the high cost of aviation fuel, flag carrier Qantas is experimenting with the use of refined cooking oil to power its jets.

Tourism industry executives blamed the strong Australian dollar for the slump in tourism revenues as foreign visitor spending declined to a four-year low of $2.63 billion in February.

Qantas Airways and Jetstar will increase their ticket prices because of their higher aviation fuel bill.

Quickflix, the Australian counterpart of US-based Netflix -- which is known for its online DVD rental service -- is expected to launch in New Zealand on Thursday.

Qantas will use vegetable cooking oil for a historic test flight between Sydney and Adelaide on April 13.

The positive leads from global markets led by the rise in the U.S. equities Friday have not provided enough boost to prop up the sentiment in the Australian stock market early on Monday.

As the 2012 NRL and AFL seasons get ready to kick-off, business information analysts at IBISWorld reveal how much Australians are spending on sports betting - the fastest growing gambling segment.

There were cracks around the cockpit windows of an Air New Zealand plane, the airline found on Sunday, resulting in the grounding of 11 planes on the same day. The cracks were spotted during routine maintenance check in Christchurch.

A firm and steady opening has set in the Australian stock market today and analysts are closely watching if it would break the barrier resistance of 4320, an indicator that a change in sentiment towards the positive amidst concerns of the economy's correlation to China's economic slowdown may take place.

The latest Encyclopaedia Britannica 32-volume edition will be the last to see print as its publisher announced this week the retirement of the book collection after more than two centuries of delivering knowledge to millions to around the world.

The potentially damaging labour dispute in Brisbane Airport has been solved after Qantas demanded a contractor, BCS Infrastructure Support, to sort out the problem. Latest report said BCS offered electricians, baggage support staff and mechanical fitters belonging to the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) higher pay.

Embattled Australian flag carrier, Qantas, is back to square one after it stopped talks with Malaysia Airlines for a premium carrier in Kuala Lumpur. Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce explained the bog down of talks to failure of both airlines "to reach mutually agreeable commercial terms."

Expect tougher competition in the Australian skies as two airline companies initiate changes in a bid to capture a larger cut of the country's travel market.

Long-haul pilots of Qantas have promised no strikes if the union would succeed in its appeal on Fair Work Australia's (FWA) ruling a few months ago to prohibit industrial action. The union will file its case against the FWA termination of the pilots' industrial action before the Federal Court in Sydney.

Stocks rebounded from the biggest decline in two weeks, rising after a strong reading on weekly U.S. jobless claims. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 32 points, or 0.3%, to 13032, in Thursday afternoon trading.

Besides using the Qantas labor row to its advantage, Virgin Australia aims to get a larger share of the corporate passenger market by offering premium lounges.

Jetstar passengers are complaining of the budget air carrier's flight delays and postponement. The average delay of 25 per cent of Jetstar planes in January was at least 15 minutes.

Virgin Australia has benefited from the months-long labour dispute at Qantas by registering a first half profit of $51.8 million. It is more than double the $23.8 million the air carrier had compared to the same period a year ago.

Australian consumers are forewarned of a fake telephone survey with the aim of defrauding them using their own bank accounts and other information.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average pierced the 13000 level for the first time since before the financial crisis, but traded largely below the mark during a choppy session in which stocks were negative at times. The Dow broke 13,000 before noon Tuesday and a handful of other times throughout the day, but was down 17 points, or 0.1%, at 12933 in afternoon trading.

The 300 employees of shuttered Air Australia were given assurances through email by the company's director, Michael James, that the business was sound hours before it was placed on administration.

The U.S. dollar fell to a near two-week low against the euro Monday on hopes European finance ministers would agree on conditions for another loan for Greece.

Australia's retails sales had gone up by 0.6% for the fourth consecutive month in all territories, according to the Commonwealth Bank's Business Sales Indicator.

Scoopon has refunded about $1 million to Air Australia passengers who were stranded when the air carrier collapsed on Friday. These travelers purchased their Air Australia tickets from Scoopon, a group buying site.

The labor dispute that has plagued Qantas for months has taken its toll on the air carrier's bottomline. The flag carrier reported on Thursday an 83 per cent decline on its half year net profit which plummeted to $42 million compared to a year ago.

The Australian stock market on Wednesday will try to put away the lacklustre sentiments generated by the U.S. and European indices overnight with a focus on a few earnings reports due to be released today.