Virgin Australia has returned to the top of the punctuality table, edging out Qantas as the nation’s most on-time domestic airline, government statistics show. According to figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE), Virgin had the highest percentage of on-time arrivals in October, with 89.8 per cent of its domestic flights reaching their destinati...
Virgin Australia is making a smart utilisation play with a new back-of-the-clock winter weekend flight between Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands beginning in seven months’ time. Tickets are now on sale with an introductory lead-in fare of NZ$299. The airline will fly the roundtrip service once weekly between June 25 and October 8 2016 using...
Spirit AeroSystems began production of the fuselage for the first P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft for the RAAF last month. The Kansas-based aerostructures company announced on November 20 that it began production work on the 737 military derivative in October, with the first unit scheduled to be delivered to Boeing early next year. “Spirit has a unique...
ATR head of global sales John Moore says large numbers of older aircraft in the 50-70 seat category still in service should support demand for its family of turboprops in the period ahead, particularly in Australia. Moore noted there were about 200 regional aircraft operating in Australia currently, with about 80 per cent of those turboprops. “If you look at the average age of these ai...
Brisbane West Wellcamp has become Australia’s latest international airport with the arrival of a Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-8F. The Cathay freighter, registered B-LJA, touched down a little after 1430 local time on Monday from Sydney and was due to be on the ground for about 90 minutes while cargo such as chilled beef, mangoes, pecan nuts and grains from the surrounding Darling D...
The first of three Boeing 737s being transferred to Tigerair Australia to begin international services to Bali next year has emerged from the paintshop. Virgin Australia 737-8FE VH-VUB was towed out of the Flying Colours paintshop at Townsville on Sunday morning ahead of flying into Melbourne on Sunday afternoon. The aircraft is one of three 737s being transferred from Virgin to its who...
Qantas plans to offer members of its frequent flyer program the opportunity to earn points from keeping fit as part of a new partnership with health insurance provider nib. The new program, called Qantas Assure, aims to capture between two and three per cent of Australia’s $19 billion health insurance market over the next five years. Qantas Assure will market nib’s health insuran...
Some of Australia's highest-profile business leaders say they'd like major airlines to ban children from traveling in business class, due to their often disruptive behavior ruining the expensive "up-market" experience. The chairman of Australian flight booking company Web Jet, David Clarke, said he would prefer "screaming kids" to be barred from the premium end...
Australia’s two busiest airports have posted healthy gains in international passengers led by a strong rise in the number of Chinese visitors. Melbourne Airport said the number of overseas travellers through Tullamarine in October rose 10.2 per cent to 764,998, compared with the prior corresponding period. Meanwhile, Sydney Airport said international passengers passing through its term...
Malindo Air has joined AirAsia X and Malaysia Airlines on the Perth-Kuala Lumpur route after its inaugural flight touched down in the West Australian capital on Thursday. The Boeing 737-800 operating flight OD151 received an ARFF monitor cross salute after landing at Perth Airport at 1440 local time on Thursday. The aircraft, registration 9M-LNW, was on the ground for about an hour before...
Emirates and Etihad have been granted additional traffic rights to Australia following the signing of a new air services agreement. Under the new arrangements announced on Friday Dubai-based Emirates will be able to operate 105 services to Australia each week to the four major gateways of Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, an increase of seven from the previous agreement. Meanwhile, Abu...
Adelaide-based Central Operations of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) has taken delivery of the first of five new Pilatus PC-12 aeromedical aircraft. The $7 million aircraft has been described as a “flying intensive care unit” with its new-technology emergency medical equipment. Central Operations has begun the replacement of five ageing PC-12s, with the first to be retired...
