Airnorth operated an Embraer E190 charter from Darwin to Christmas Island on 15 August to carry a SpaceX recovery team for a crew change linked to the retrieval of Starship Ship 40. The mission supported operations after the vehicle splashed down near the island following Flight 13, underlining the use of regional airline capacity in remote aerospace logistics across Australian territory waters.
Christmas Island remains one of Airnorth’s more demanding destinations, with the sector taking about four hours over mostly open ocean. The island sits in the Jakarta flight information region, which shaped the planning for the charter and the selection of Yogyakarta as an alternate airport. Airnorth’s international operating experience helped manage the mission safely, while the recovery effort itself had already seen Ship 40 spent about 24 days at sea before being towed towards Christmas Island for further handling.