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Australia aviation news

Quickstep deliveries of F-35 vertical tails components expected to start by June

Quickstep Holdings says deliveries of vertical tail components for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project are expected to begin by the end of June. The Australian manufacturer says the qualification process for the vertical tail fairings components, vertical tail spars and vertical tail skins have been approved. “Following completion of qualification for vertical tail fairings component...

Replica war planes, Australian aviators feature at air show

War planes have taken to the skies above Caboolture, north of Brisbane, to highlight the role of Australian aviators this Anzac Day long weekend. Seven World War I planes went on show with aerial manoeuvres, complete with gunners standing up in the rear. The event, hosted at the Caboolture Airfield by the Australian Vintage Aviation Society, wants to highlight Australia's little-known in...

Australian biofuels could transform airline industry and create jobs

This week Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand held a conference with the biofuel industry after joining forces to investigate options for locally produced biojet fuel for their domestic and international routes. This striking step signals the two airlines’ intention to aggregate their purchasing power in order to reduce their reliance on a single fuel, while at the same time significantl...

Sydney, Melbourne airports report healthy passenger growth

Australia’s two largest airports posted strong passenger growth in March as more international travellers pour into the country. At Melbourne Tullamarine, international passengers were up 7.3 per cent in March at 763,848, compared with the prior corresponding period. The March figures represented seven straight years of international passenger growth at Melbourne. Melbourne Airport...

Ansett Aviation and Universal Training partner to offer RFDS Qld King Air flight training

The Royal Australian Flying Doctor Service Queensland Section (RFDS Qld) will train its Beechcraft King Air pilots at a flight simulator facility on the Sunshine Coast. The Beechcraft King Air 350i flight simulator, which is convertible to a B200 full flight simulator, is a partnership between Universal Training Systems (UTS) and Ansett Aviation Training Australasia and is expected to be fully...

Qantas puts brakes on domestic growth in response to market conditions

Qantas’s shares have tumbled sharply after the airline group announced putting a brake on domestic growth in response to weaker-than-expected demand. On the domestic front, Qantas said it would cut capacity in the three months to June 30 2016, compared with the prior corresponding period, in response to the airline posting negative revenue per available seat kilometre (RASK – an ind...

Flights cancelled at Newcastle Airport after roof collapse

Newcastle Airport has been closed and flights cancelled after a sudden deluge of water caused a partial collapse of the roof on Sunday afternoon. At around 1pm, shortly before the Bureau of Meteorology issued a heavy rainfall warning for the Newcastle area, gutters in part of the Williamtown airport terminal were overwhelmed with water, causing a sec...

Virgin pilot found over the limit before commercial flight loses appeal

A Virgin pilot who failed a breath test before he was due to fly out of Canberra with 96 passengers has lost a bid to clear his name.  The pilot was selected for the test at Canberra Airport at about 8am on the morning of his birthday in August 2013. A Virgin pilot has lost an appeal against his conviction for being over the limit before a commercial flight. ...

Virgin Australia Announces New Codeshare With Alitalia

Virgin Australia today announced a new codeshare agreement with Italy’s national carrier, Alitalia. On sale from 15 April 2016, Virgin Australia customers will be able to book travel on Alitalia’s daily flights from Abu Dhabi to Rome and Milan Malpensa*. Virgin Australia Chief Commercial Officer Judith Crompton said: “We are very excited to partner with Alitalia and provide...

StarFlight Australia launches

Queensland’s CareFlight Group in partnership with Kaan Air, a European utility operator and Finmeccanica Helicopters and Russian Helicopters distributor, have launched StarFlight Australia to provide EMS, SAR and firefighting helicopter services throughout Australasia. The joint venture company was launched at CareFlight’s Brisbane Airport base on April 8 by StarFlight chairman Ferd...

Second Qantas flight turned back after 'vibrating' engine

An international Qantas flight has been forced to turn back after reports of a "vibrating" engine, the second incident of its kind in five days. QF61, flying from Brisbane to Tokyo Narita, scheduled to take off at 10.45 on Saturday morning, backtracked to Brisbane about half an hour into the nine-and-a-quarter hour journey to the Japanese capital. A Qantas spokespers...

Passenger dies aboard Dubai-bound Qantas flight

Qantas declined to give further information about the passenger and the circumstances around his death for privacy reasons.  A passenger has died aboard a Qantas jet bound for Dubai, the airline said Saturday (Apr 9), with the man reportedly suffering from a heart attack mid-air. Flight QF9, which was travelling from Melbourne Friday, was diverted to Muscat, Oman for the medical emergen...