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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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...
Training medical professionals for in-flight care on board the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) has taken a giant leap forward, with the announcement on Friday of an $18 million facility at the service's base in Dubbo. RFDS chief medical officer Dr Randall Greenberg believes the one-of-a kind facility will bring great benefits to rural healthcare in Australia. "We can practice doi...
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Australia (AOPA) president Marc De Stoop has presented the federal government with a nine-point plan to support and revitalise the nation’s general aviation (GA) sector, including proposed changes to the nation’s aviation safety regulator and the privatisation of Airservices. The reforms are outlined in brief to government called Project Eur...
Australian national carrier Qantas Airlines has partnered with Tesla for a new collaboration to promote sustainability initiatives. The partnership officially launched this weekend, well timed to follow the reveal of Tesla’s new Model S electric vehicle. To mark the new partnership, Qantas held a runway race at Avalon Airport between one of its Boeing 737 aircraft and a Tesla S P9...
Commercial drone operators will no longer need remote pilot licences or certificates to use the unmanned aircraft on certain flights when new laws come into force later this year. The relaxed regulations, due to come into force in September, are part of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority's plans to "cut red tape" and accommodate rising popularity in the remote piloted aircraft se...
The Royal Australian Navy is looking to acquire an interim vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft system (UAS). A request for tender (RFT) for the Navy Minor Project (NMP) 1942, released on the AusTender website on February 26 (with a closing date of April 11), seeks to procure a “proven” VTOL ‘Maritime Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System &nd...
Australia’s customs and immigration workers have launched strikes at Australian airports, following a postponement over the Easter travel period due to security concerns. A series of short strikes at major international gateways began March 30. The Community and Public Sector Union had previously planned industrial action before and during Easter, including a 24-hour walkout at all int...
