John Holland Aviation Services (JHAS) today signed a five year contract to provide comprehensive fleet management services to Menzies Aviation’s fleet of ground support equipment (GSE). Under the agreement, JHAS will service, maintain and support over 1200 units of GSE at airports throughout Australia and New Zealand.

EADS and the defence ministers of its customer nations have reached what the aerospace giant describes as “a principle agreement” to amend the contract covering its troubled A400M military transport aircraft. The intention is to amend the original contract in the coming weeks, says EADS. The statement has set out the four commitments now offered by customer nations.

LAN Airlines has restored services between Sydney and Santiago, Chile, following last weekend’s devastating earthquake in Chile. Flight LA 801, the first flight since Sunday February 28, will arrive tomorrow morning, Saturday 06 March at approximately 7.30am.

Boeing will offer its “NewGen” Tanker in the KC-X competition to supply the U.S. Air Force with a multi-mission aerial refueling aircraft that will meet all the Service’s mission requirements for the next several decades.  Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said Boeing’s tanker will satisfy all mandatory Air Force requirements and offer an American-made tanker that will be capable, survivable, and combat-ready at the lowest cost to the taxpayer.

Enstrom Helicopter Corporation will be providing sixteen 480B advanced turbine training helicopters for the Royal Thai Army. The 480B was selected in a competitive bidding process that included aircraft from seven different major manufacturers. The deal follows a visit last October to Enstrom of a Thai Army officials led by Major General Pittaya Krachangwong, who inspected Enstrom’s manufacturing facilities and flew the different models of Enstrom helicopters.

Virgin Blue Holdings Limited today reported a net profit after tax of $62.5 million for last year’s second half, compared to a loss of $101.4 million for the prior corresponding period.  Group revenue was up 12.2% from $1.35 billion in the previous equivalent reporting period to $1.51 billion for the six months to 31 December 2009, with Underlying Profit Before Tax (PBT) of $75.6 million up 34% compared to the prior period.

In advance of Transport Canada certification, the first new-production DHC-6 Series 400 Twin Otter has taken its initial flight from Viking Air’s final assembly facility in Calgary, Alberta.  “Built for the bush,” the 18-20 passenger DHC-6 Twin Otter in its earlier forms has a long history with air carriers in Australia and Papua New Guinea, and has carried the logos of Ansett, TAA/Australian Airlines, Bush Pilots Airways/Air Queensland, Aero Pelican and Talair among others.

Cessna’s new Citation CJ4, the fastest-yet of all its Citation 500 series jets, made its first flight on February 17. Sources say the new CJ4, also the first aircraft to built on Cessna’s new production line, is exceeding earlier predictions on top speed, climb performance and range. AOPA reports the aircraft is delivering a top TAS of 452 KIAS against original predictions of 435, a range of 1963 nautical miles compared to predictions of 1825, and a direct climb (without step climb requirement) 45,000 feet in 28 minutes.

Qantas today announced a half-year net profit before tax of $90 million on a revenue of $6.9 billion.

The statutory result was in line with guidance provided last December of “between $50 and $150 million.”

Talking up the super-modest result, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said that while the global aviation industry remained in loss, the Qantas Group had been profitable.

QantasLink’s new ski season schedule will will allow passengers to fly direct to Australia’s most elevated airport at Mt Hotham and be on the slopes within 45 minutes of landing.  It’s going to be a pretty busy 45 minutes for those of us who take that long to get their boots and skis on.  QantasLink Executive Manager Mr Narendra Kumar, said the two-and-a-half-month schedule would operate an average of three return flights each week, increasing services in the peak period to maximise tourism opportunities for the local region throughout the season.

Boeing has contracted Mincham Aviation, a small-to-medium Adelaide enterprise (SME), to manufacture four assembly-spare-part sets for the CH-47 Chinook helicopter. Contract terms were not disclosed.

Global power systems company Rolls-Royce has selected a graduate from Melbourne’s RMIT to join its prestigious Graduate Leadership Development Program.

Jason Seris from Melbourne, Australia, was selected following his internship at Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis, US, working with the GE Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team.

Boeing’s B747-8 Freighter took to the sky this week for the first time, and as successfully as everybody expected.

Billed as “the world’s most efficient freighter,” the freighter variant incorporates all the structural, systems and performance enhancements of the passenger version, although it looks a little different

Hawker Pacific has delivered the first of five additional new King Air 350 twin turboprop light transport aircraft to the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) 38 Squadron in Townsville. The King Air 350 was modified and prepared for RAAF service by Hawker Pacific’s specialist modifications team including its avionics subsidiary, Australian Avionics.

Dassault has selected Hawker Pacific to provide product support for its Falcon 7X customers based in Asia, following the newly certified high-end business jet’s entry into service later this month.

Through its Singapore Service Centre and soon to be launched joint venture Shanghai Hawker Pacific facility, the company also will aid Dassault in introducing the all-new aircraft into China in the second quarter of this year.

A new group of peak Australian aviation bodies warns that the government’s National Aviation Policy White Paper has “missed a great opportunity to establish more aviation jobs in Australia and to help the industry deliver better services to Australians.”

Boeing today announced that its Sydney based Ken Morton would assume responsibility for company communications across the Asia-Pacific region. He succeeds Mark Hooper, who returns to Seattle from Hong Kong to a senior role in Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Air Force AP-3C Orions have achieved an extraordinary seven years of continuous Middle East operations, providing crucial support to Australian and coalition forces.

Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal (AIRMSHL) Mark Binskin said the Orions had flown more than 1750 missions involving 16500 flying hours supporting Operations Bastille, Falconer, Catalyst and Slipper.