A suite of new capabilities for the Royal Australian Air Force’s C-17A Globemaster heavy transport aircraft have been showcased in Canberra, including the provision of Wi-Fi internet access for portable electronic devices issued by Defence. The demonstration is part of Plan Jericho, which is the plan to transform the RAAF and the wider Australian Defence Force (ADF) into a fighting force...
Virgin Australia has opened the doors to its new $300 million home at Perth Airport. While passengers will have to wait until November 22 to experience the new Terminal 1 Domestic Pier, Virgin chief executive John Borghetti and Perth Airport chief executive Brad Geatches gave media a tour of the new facilities on Friday morning. Virgin is moving its domestic interstate flights from Terminal...
Regional Express (Rex) looks set to begin operations in Western Australia in 2016 after being named as the preferred tenderer for two WA government-regulated routes – Perth-Esperance and Perth-Albany. “Subject to final negotiations, Rex will enter into a contract with the Department of Transport to operate the routes for the next five-year licence period commencing 28 February...
Better flying conditions in the vicinity of Bali Airport has allowed Virgin Australia and Jetstar to operate some daylight flights from Indonesia back to Australia. Jetstar has scheduled 11 recovery flights on Thursday, which will operate in daylight hours, while Virgin has planned three flights from Bali to Australia. “Flying conditions are forecast to remain favourable, with the late...
Sydney Airport is set to welcome its sixth new airline this year when Hainan Airlines commences services from Xi'an to Sydney in December. Hainan Airlines' twice-weekly Xi'an-Sydney service will commence on December 24 until the end of the peak northern winter season in late March 2016, subject to government approval. The route will be operated by an A330-200 aircraft with 222...
American Airlines will start daily flights between Los Angeles and Auckland from June 2016 with Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners in partnership with alliance partner Qantas. The announcement was made in Wellington on Wednesday by American chief executive Doug Parker and Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce. “Growth in the Asia Pacific region is critically important to American Airlines,&rdqu...
Jetstar has joined Tigerair Australia at Melbourne Tullamarine’s new Terminal 4. The Qantas-owned low-cost carrier set up shop in the new terminal, which features 36 automated checkin kiosks and 18 bag drop units, as well as a larger departures lounge and more shopping and food choices, on Tuesday morning. Jetstar will have priority access to 12 gates at Terminal 4, compared with four...
Renowned Australian landscape and nature photographer Richard Green, his wife Carolyn and friend John Davis were killed when Green’s Airbus Helicopters EC135, VH-GKK, crashed in mountainous terrain while the trio were returning to Sydney, having departed from Breeza Station, south-west of Tamworth, on November 7. When the distinctively painted EC135 failed to arrive a...
Consumers are not the only ones being stung with paying by credit card, with Australia’s two major carriers telling a Senate committee their surcharges and booking fees recover less than the reasonable the cost of processing credit card payments. Qantas group executive for government and international affairs Andrew Parker said credit and debit card processing costs were “...
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will raise an Israel Aerospace Industries 1124A Westwind that crashed near Norfolk Island in 2009, as it re-opens an investigation which was criticised for not having recovered the aircraft's recorders. In an update on its website, the ATSB says that it has contracted Pacific Maritime Pacific Maritime Group to assist in the recovery of...
Alliance Aviation Services says it has plans to ensure its all-Fokker fleet keeps flying for the next decade. The primarily fly-in/fly-out and charter operator has 15 Fokker 100s, eight Fokker 70LRs and five Fokker 50 turboprops, having sold two Fokker 100s to Virgin Australia in the past year that were surplus to requirements. Alliance managing director Scott McMillan said th...
Jetstar and Virgin Australia have cancelled all flights to and from Bali on Monday after both carriers decided conditions were unsafe for flying due to the ash cloud from the nearby Mount Rinjani volcano. Virgin said on Monday the latest advice from its team of meteorologists, senior pilots and the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) showed conditions in the vicinity of Bali/Denpasar Airpo...
