Qantas announced today it had reached a mutual agreement with Boeing to defer the delivery of 15 B787-8 “Dreamliner” aircraft by four years and to cancel orders for 15 B787-9s scheduled for delivery in 2014/2015.  Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, said the changes to the Group’s B787 orders were appropriate in the current climate…

An international team of students from the University of Queensland won the inaugural Airbus “Fly Your Ideas” challenge at the Paris-Le Bourget Air Show this week. The “COz” team won the prize for its project that used the castor plant to develop the first-ever single plant-based high performance composite materials for aircraft cabin components.

A Continental Airlines Boeing 777 landed safely at Liberty International Airport, Newark, NJ on June 18 after the aircraft’s 60-year-old captain died of a suspected heart attack during a flight from Brussels.  The 247 passengers on the flight were unaware of any problems despite a request from a cabin attendant asking if there was doctor on board.

Final assembly has now begun on Boeing’s first B 787 Dreamliner, destined for delivery to launch customer ANA (All Nippon Airways) of Japan.  ANA and Boeing launched the 787 program with a firm order for 50 of the all-new composite jetliner. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2010.

50 million jobs and US$3.6 trillion of the world’s GDP will depend on aviation by 2026.  Limiting aviation’s growth even to 1% below its current trend rate would cost 6 million aviation related jobs and reduce the industry’s GDP contribution by US$600 billion.  These are among the findings of a study by Oxford Economics, a world leader in quantitative analysis and economic forecasting, commissioned by Airbus Industrie. Its new report on the economic and social impact of aviation entitled “Aviation: The Real World Wide Web”…

Qantas and QantasLink have led the field in a new air safety enhancement.  Bird strikes and related damage have been significantly reduced across the entire Qantas and QantasLink B737 and DHC8 fleet by a new and relatively low cost initiative.  The bird strike problem was highlighted when an Airbus A320 passenger jet…

Qantas has reacted angrily to public comments by Steve Purvinas, Federal Secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) following the emergency diversion to Guam of a Jetstar Airbus A330 today.  The flight from Osaka diverted when an electrical fire occurred in the aircraft’s windscreen…

Airbus Industrie and China’s aerospace industry made history yesterday (May 18) when the first Airbus A320 aircraft assembled outside Europe successfully completed its first flight.  The Airbus Final Assembly Line China (FALC) is a joint-venture between Airbus and a Chinese consortium comprising Tianjin Free Trade Zone…

Qantas has struck an agreement with employees at its Brisbane heavy maintenance base, which will secure the future of heavy maintenance work for the airline’s Airbus A330 fleet in Australia.  In April the carrier scrapped plans for a maintenance joint venture with Malaysian Airlines, abandoning a move…

A team from The University of Queensland has won through to the final round of Airbus Industrie’s Fly Your Ideas global competition for higher education students. The UQ team will be competing for a €30,000 prize with four other teams – from Singapore, the Czech Republic, Spain and the US.

7 May 2009 (GENEVA) - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) welcomed France’s adoption of One-Stop Security. Passengers that have already been screened at a European airport will not need to be screened a second time when making flight connections. High security standards are maintained…

The spectacular range of modern airborne surveillance capabilities was highlighted last month at Avalon, where visitors were treated to real-time surveillance from airborne aircraft detecting (as one example) drivers committing traffic offences on the nearby freeway.  The stability and definition of these systems was demonstrated…

One of the world’s consistently top financial performers, Hong Kong based Cathay Pacific Airways, is also succumbing to the world’s accelerating downslide.  Cathay Pacific and Dragonair passenger numbers for March 2009 have dipped well below the same month last year, together with another sharp fall in cargo…

ATR Regional Aircraft has just achieved a major milestone in Australia, securing type certification from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for operators to introduce its 70 seater ATR 72-500 aircraft into the country.  The CASA approval means that the ATR 72-500 complies with the country’s regulatory standards, and is now…

Qantas announced today it will slash up to 1,250 more jobs including 500 management posts following the 90 senior executive redundancies announced in March 2009, and is reviewing its remaining management tiers.  Qantas will now ground up to 10 aircraft, but says it remains determined to retain a presence on key routes despite…

Another Pacific carrier, Air Tahiti Nui has made it seven in a row, winning the title of “Best Airline – Pacific Region” in the 2009 Skytrax global awards for airline excellence.  The international airline of Tahiti and Her Islands has also been awarded the second Skytrax title of “Best Cabin Staff – Pacific” in the latest awards.

Cathay Pacific Airways has been named Airline of the Year 2009 in the World Airline Awards run by the London-based Skytrax research organisation – the third time it has taken the honour in the past 10 years. The airline was also named Best Airline Asia in 2009.  The awards were presented to Cathay Pacific at the Aircraft Interiors…

IATA (the International Air Transport Association) has challenged the aviation industry and governments to bring an …