Formal contract arrangements have been signed between the federal government and Lockheed Martin Australia to provide and support the Australian Defence Force’s new pilot training system, after the company was named as the preferred tenderer the AIR-5428 project in September. Under the acquisition and services contracts, which are worth $1.2 billion, Lockheed Martin will deliver 49 Pilatu...
Australian Helicopters has been awarded a three-year contract extension to continue operating South Australia’s State Rescue Helicopter Service (SRHS) shared by the state’s ambulance, police and fire services. “Australian Helicopters has successfully delivered a reliable rescue helicopter operation for the South Australian community for over 10 years and we are extremely pleas...
Nominations are open for the 2016 Aviation/Aerospace Australia leadership and excellence awards. There are six categories in the annual Airspace awards, comprising distinguished leadership, excellence in innovation, outstanding leadership in training, outstanding strategy for diversity, outstanding contribution to the aviation and aerospace sectors by a female and outstanding next generation pr...
Cobham Aviation Services president Peter Nottage says the ability to serve remote mining centres with unpaved runways using jet aircraft provides its mining clients with a faster and more efficient service. The fly-in/fly-out and charter operator has five jet aircraft – three BAe 146s and two Avro RJ85s – that are dedicated to operating on unpaved airstrips, having been fitted with...
Jetstar will add flights from Avalon to Hobart and Adelaide from March 2016 as part of its commitment to increase flying from Melbourne’s second airport. The low-cost carrier will fly four times a week to Hobart and three times a week to Adelaide from Avalon, Jetstar said on Tuesday. Starting new routes from Avalon, located to Melbourne’s west near Geelong, was a condition of the...
Regional Express (Rex) says it has signed contracts with the West Australian government to operate the Perth-Esperance and Perth-Albany routes. The airline, which was named as the prefered tenderer for the two government-regulated routes in November, will replace Virgin Australia Regional Airlines (VARA) on the two services. ”Rex has today entered into a Deed with the WA Departmen...
Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) chairman Jeff Boyd has suggested a new funding model that includes international operators would be a more equitable way of funding the organisation. Currently, CASA receives the bulk of its funding from a fuel excise on domestic flights. International flights are not subject to the fuel excise. With the downturn in the mining industry affecting demand...
The targeted positioning and strengthening of RUAG Aviation within the Australian and Asia-Pacific aviation markets continues with the appointment of John Teager as Managing Director of RUAGAustralia, effective 1 January 2016. Teager, a decorated RAF and RAAF officer and seasoned aviation industry professional, joined RUAG Australia in 2013 as Vice Pres...
Airservices acting chief executive Jason Harfield says a review of the air traffic management provider’s processes will help put the organisation on the right path to meet the future aviation needs of the country. Harfield says a “business diagnostic and efficiency review”, which started in mid-November, would “look at everything we do, and how we do it”. &...
Dr Fadi Aloul has been awarded the 2015 Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) Airbus Diversity Award for his work in developing a course that introduces first-year students to engineering. Airbus engineering executive vice president and patron of the diversity award Charles Champion presented Dr Aloul with his award in Adelaide on Wednesday. Dr Aloul is a professor of computer science and...
While demand for air travel shows little sign of slowing at the end of a bumper year where lower fares have resulted in more passengers flying, domestic markets such as Brazil and Australia are feeling the effects of a sluggish local economy, new figures show. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says total revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) rose 7.5 per cent in October. And wi...
Richard Branson is finding a new use for an old Virgin Atlantic jumbo jetliner: to fling rockets to orbit. Virgin Galactic, the commercial space company founded by the billionaire, plans to send small rockets inflight from the Boeing 747-400 nicknamed "Cosmic Girl" that it purchased from Branson's airline. Branson is among the entrepreneurs vying to shake up the US$6 billion co...
