Australian Airlines NEWS

Virgin is offering one-way direct economy fares online starting at $359 compared with $388 for Qantas   Travel time from Canberra will be the same as Qantas at four hours and 40 minutes Flying Boeing 737-800 aircraft with 176 seats. In August and September sitting weeks, Virgin Flights will depart Perth  on Thursday  and  Sunday  at 12.35pm  and arrive in Canberra at  6.25pm . They will depart Canberra at  7pm  and arrive in Perth at  9.40pm . Tickets for 2017 are on sale now and 2018 Flights will be available after the parliamentary sitting calendar is released. Virgin also offers direct Flights from Canberra to Adelaide, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney. It's understood that Virgin will monitor passenger numbers and consider additional services based on demand. A spokesman for Canberra Airport welcomed Virgin's new services. "They offer even greater choices for travellers from Canberra and ...

Rockwell Collins Australia produces 100th F-35 DAS optical assembly Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne has joined Rockwell Collins Australia at its facility in Sydney to witness the production of its 100th optical  assembly for the electro-optical AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System (DAS) for the F-35 Lightning II. Rockwell Collins Australia expects to produce more than 7,000 of these assemblies across the life of the Joint Strike Fighter program, representing at least  40 per cent of global production, Minister Pyne said in a statement. Developed by Northrop Grumman, the DAS is a 360-degree situational awareness system that is intended to warn of incoming aircraft and missile threats, as  well as providing day/night vision, fire-control capability and precision tracking of friendly Aircraft for tactical manoeuvring. #Govt._of_Australia #Rockwell_Collins #Christopher_Pyne #AAQ_37_DAS Sanghmitra Wankhade B.E(CS), MB...

REX Flight forced into Emergency Landing after losing Propeller A Regional Express flight to Sydney has been forced to make an emergency landing after losing one of its propellers mid-flight. Flight ZL768 from Albury landed safely at Sydney Airport just after midday  and the 16 passengers and three crew members on board were not injured. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has assigned three investigators to look into the circumstances surrounding the incident and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority is seeking an urgent briefing from the  company.They want to work out whether this could be a potential defect in all SAAB 340B aircraft or just this one in particular. Regional Express is also investigating. The ABC understands the aircraft was on approach and lost the propeller at approximately 6,000 feet. The propeller has not been found and will be a crucial piece of evidence in the investigation. Air traffic control audio logs reveal that after realising...

Chorus Aviation to acquire six ATR 72 - 600 Aircraft on Lease to Flybe and Virgin Australia Chorus Aviation has reported agreements by Chorus Aviation Capital’s subsidiaries to acquire six ATR 72-600 aircraft with attached leases from Aviation PLC.  Three of these  Aircraft are currently on lease to  U.K. carrier, Flybe, and three to Virgin Australia Airlines. The aircraft are between one and four years old and are the first ATRs added to Chorus Aviation Capital’s growing regional Aircraft Fleet. Commenting  on the planned purchase, Chorus Aviation Capital’s President, Steven Ridolfi, said, “We are delighted to announce this portfolio acquisition, adding two outstanding customers to our growing pool of Airline  lessees, and welcoming the addition of the first ATRs to our diversifying fleet.” The aggregate purchase price for the aircraft is consistent with current market values for similar Aircraft, and Chorus Aviation  Capital intends to finance...

Qantas' Non Stop Perth-London Flights to go on sale this week Qantas is expected to launch its non-stop flights between Perth and London in the month of april 2017 and begin selling tickets for the first of the Boeing 787 flights, which are tipped to take wing in late  March 2018. Here are some blanks that'll be filled in once the flights go on sale:- Arrival and departure time:-Dreamliner will depart Perth in the late evening,around  10.30pm  and reach London at  7am .The return leg will be wheels-up from Heathrow around  10 am  to arrive into Perth at  noon  the following day. Starting from Melbourne? It's also been tipped that the Boeing 787 service will begin from Melbourne around  7pm , allowing travellers from the Victorian capital to take their seat on the Dreamliner's  Melbourne-Perth leg before continuing onto London (with a short break at the new Qantas Perth International Lounge). Onwards to Los Angeles? Anot...

Virgin Australia Launches Canberra Perth Flights Virgin Australia will join Qantas in catering to the sharply defined "WA-based Federal Politician" market with the launch of flights between Canberra and Perth. The pollies,their partners and staffers-a group which includes 28 of Australia's 226 Federal members and senators,among them Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop,Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and  Minister for Employment and Women Michaelia Cash,along with three more ministers and two Liberal Party whips-will now have the option to fly with Virgin instead of Qantas when parliamentary is sitting. Virgin offer politicians membership to its exclusive The Club which goes head to head with the Qantas Chairman's Lounge-and of course,both have invitation-only private lounges at Canberra and Perth. Virgin's new service will run on a Boeing 737 aircraft.The time duration for the flight will be 4 hours and 40 minutes per Flight.   #Virgin_Austral...

Q1  International  Traffic growth offsets weak domestic demand at Sydney Airport International traffic growth of over five per cent has offset flat domestic passenger numbers at Sydney Airport for the first quarter of 2017. Recent figures released by Sydney Airport show international  passenger numbers through Australia’s busiest airport increased by 5.7 per cent in the first quarter compared to the first quarter of 2016, while domestic passenger numbers were essentially flat, growing by  a scant 0.2 per cent.In addition to the full year impact of services that commenced last year, over 620,000 annualised new international seats have already been announced in 2017. The additional services have been focused  on Asia, with new and increased capacity to China, Vietnam, Korea, Indonesia and Hong Kong.  For the month of March domestic passenger numbers did show modest growth, up 1.4 per cent on March 2016 (to 2,301,000), while international passe...