News Desk

Airbus Will Push Ahead With a Limited Overhaul of Its A330 Widebody as It Seeks to Extend the Lifespan of the Profitable Jetliner Against Competition From Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

The Plans, Revealed at the Farnborough Airshow in the Uk, Confirm That Airbus Has Decided Against Developing a New Engine Variant of the A330, as It Has Done With the A320neo. Instead, It Will Focus on Minor Upgrades That Will Expand the Aircraft’s Maximum Takeoff Weight to 240 Tonnes.

That Will Allow the Larger A330-300 to Extend Its Range by About Seven Per Cent to 5,950nm (11,020km) While Being Able to Carry Five Tonnes of Additional Payload. The A330-200 Will See a Four Per Cent Increase in Range to 7,050nm (13,060km) While Getting 2. 5 Tonnes of Extra Pay-load. In Practical Terms, Airbus Says the Extra Range Will Allow the A330-300 to Connect City Pairs Such as Melbourne and Beijing, London and Tokyo, and Kuala Lumpur and Paris.

Airbus Said It Hoped to Begin Shipping Upgraded A330s by the Second Half of 2015 and Indicated That It Expects to Announce a First Customer for the Aircraft Soon. The A330 Has Enjoyed Something of a Renaissance in Orders Over Recent Years Thanks to the Long Delays That Have Plagued Boe-ing’s 787 Program. On Paper, the Largest of the 787s – the Proposed 787-10 – is Expected to Seat 25 More Passengers Than the A330-300 While Offering 1,000nm of Additional Range. But With the Boeing Plane Still Years Away From Production, Airbus Hopes the Upgraded A330 Will Be Able to Entice Customers Well Into This Decade.

In Its Announcement, Airbus Claimed the Overhauled A330 Would Serve as “an Extremely Cost-effective Alternative to the 787 on Many Routes With Around Five Per Cent Lower Direct Operating Costs Per Trip. ” Airbus Said the Increased Range of the A330-300 Would Also Allow It to Cover More of the A330-200’s Network, Giving Airlines the Flexibility to Use the -200 to Open New Routes and Grow Frequency While Using the -300 to Build Capacity.

“the A330 Has Come a Long Way in the Last 10 Years, and We Are Delighted to Bring to More Airlines the Advantages and Reliability of A330 Economics Over Ever Wider Markets,” Said John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer – Customers of Air-bus. “this Aircraft is the Most Popular Aircraft Ever in Its Category and Looks Set to Hold This Position for Years to Come. ”

Airbus Shows New Concept Aircraft

Airbus Has Released New Art-work of a Concept Airliner Dis-playing What It Thinks Passen-ger Jets Might Look Like by 2050.

The Concept Features Some Striking Departures From Current Generation Aircraft, Including Partially Embedded Engines Nestled Between Ultra-long Wings and a Sweeping, U-shaped Tail. More Strikingly, Passen-gers Would Be Able to Stare Out Into the Firmament Through a Lightweight, Semi-transparent Fuselage Membrane, All From the Comfort of Morphing Seats Capable of Harvesting Body Heat for Power. Seating Classes, Meanwhile, Would Be Replaced by Personalised Passenger Areas Known as ‘vitalising’, ‘smart-tech’ and ‘interactive’ Zones.

The Concept Design Was Released Ahead of July’s Farnborough Airshow.

New Ceo for Bca as Albaugh Retires

Raymond L Conner Has Taken Over as President and Ceo of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, With James Albaugh to Retire From the Aircraft Manufacturer in October.

Mr Conner is a 34-year Boeing Employee and Was Previously Senior Vice President for Sales and Customer Sup-port. He Has Also Held Roles in Supply Chain Management and Played a Key Role in Overseeing the Development of Boeing’s South Carolina Manufactur-ing Operations, Boeing Said.

Atr 42-600 Certified

the European Aviation Safety Authority Has Granted Type Certification for the Atr 42-600, Clearing the Way for the First Customer Deliver-ies of the 50-seat Turboprop.

The Certification of the Smaller Aircraft Comes After the Larger Atr 72-600 Received Its Type Certification in May 2011, and Effectively Ends the Development Program for the -600 Atr Variants.

Compared to the Previous -500 Variants, the Atr 42-600 Gains a New Thales Integrated Avionics Suite, New Com-munications, Navigation and Monitoring Systems, New Flight Management System and Has as Standard the Upgraded Pratt & Whitney Pw127m Engines, Which Are Able to Provide Better Field Performance From Hot and High Airstrips.

Airbus Cuts Metal for First A320neo

Airbus Has Started Cut-ting Metal for Its First A320neo as Production Gets Underway on the Up-graded Single-aisle Airliner.

Airbus Said It Began Machin-ing the First A320neo Engine Pylon Component on July 8 at Its Dedicated Pylon and Nacelle Factory in Toulouse, France. The Pylon Retains a High Degree of Commonality With the Existing A320 Pylon Design While in-corporating More Titanium and Some Advanced Architectures Developed for the A380 Pylon.

“this First Metal Cut of the Engine Pylon Component for the A320neo Heralds the Completion of the Design Phase and Start of Production for the World’s Fastest Sell-ing Airliner,” Airbus Execu-tive Vice President of Pro-grams Tom Williams Said.

Scheduled to Enter Service From Late 2015, the A320neo Features New Engines and Sharklet Wingtip Devices That Airbus Says Will Improve Fuel Efficiency by as Much as 15 Per Cent. Airbus Has Booked More Than 1,400 Firm or-ders for the Aircraft Since It Was Announced in 2010.

Airbus Confirms Us A320 Production Line

Airbus Has Confirmed That It Will Build a New A320 Family Final Assembly Line (Fal) in Mobile, Alabama, With the First ‘made in the Usa’ A320s to Be Delivered From the Facility in 2016.

Construction of the Fal Will Commence in the Northern Summer of 2013, With Assembly of the First A320 Family Aircraft to Commence in 2015. Airbus Expects That It Will Produce 40-50 Aircraft Per Year by 2018.

Airbus Already Has an Engineering Centre in Mo-bile on the Same Site as the Fal That Currently Employs 200 Staff. It is Expected That Over 1,000 People Will Be Employed in the New Fal.

The Announcement Was Widely Expected and Seen as Necessary to Allow Airbus to Boost Production of Its A320 Family Aircraft to Keep Up With a Strong Backlog.

The New Fal Will Initially Produce Current-generation A320s and is Also Expected to Assemble A320neos at a Later Date.

Boeing Delivers 150 Aircraft in Q2 2012

Boeing Delivered 150 New Commercial Airliners During the Second Quarter of 2012.

Over the Three Months to the End of June, the Manufacturer Delivered 109 737s, 22 777s, Seven 747s, Six 767s and Six 787s.

For the First Six Months of the 2012 Calendar Year, Boe-ing Has Delivered 287 Aircraft, Comprising 208 737s, 42 777s, 13 747s, 13 767s and 11 787s.

Pratt Completes Iae Buyout

Pratt & Whitney Has Closed Its Buyout of Rolls-royce’s Shares in the International Aero Engines Consortium.

The Other Joint Venture Partners in Iae, Japan Aero Engines and Germany’s Mtu, Will Maintain Their Interest in the Company, but It is Understood That Pratt Will Largely Control the Company by Mid-2013.

Iae’s V2500 Engines Power Md-90s and Are One of Two Current Options on the Air-bus A320 Family, While a Variant Has Also Been Selected to Power the Embraer Kc-390 Military Tanker/transport.

Locally, Both Jetstar’s and Tiger Airways’ A320s Are Powered by Iae Engines.

Bombardier Sees Bizjet Growth, Trims Commercial Outlook

Bombardier Aerospace Has Lowered Its Forecast for the Commercial Aircraft Market, but is Expecting That the Business Aircraft Market Will Return to Growth From 2013.

The Canadian Airframer Said in Releasing Its Latest 20-year Market Forecast That Trends in Both the Business and Com-mercial (20-140 Seat) Segments Remained Generally Positive Despite Mixed Indicators, With Demand for New Aircraft Coming From Both Developed and Emerging Markets.

Bombardier is Forecasting a Demand for 24,000 New Busi-ness Jets Worth Approximately Us$648bn Over the Next 20 Years in the Light, Medium and Large Categories It Competes in. That is Despite an Admis-sion From the Company That It Expects Next Year’s Output to Remain Flat, With Growth to Resume in 2013, Led by Large-category Business Jets.

Bombardier Also Noted That North America is Still Expected to Be the Largest Recipient of Business Jets Over Its Forecast Period, Followed by Europe and China. It Added That It Expects to See Major Growth From Other Emerging Markets, Such as Brazil, Russia, Indonesia and Mexico, to Boost Their Share of Deliveries Over the Next 20 Years.

On the Commercial Side of the Market, Bombardier Sees Demand for 12,800 New Aircraft Generating Over Us$630bn in Revenues. This Was Down 300 Units Compared to Last Year’s Forecast, With the Company Noting That Lower Gdp Forecasts and Higher Oil Prices Were Mainly Responsible.

Airliner Fleet to Double in 20 Years – Boeing Boeing

Has Released Its Latest Current Market Out-look for the Next 20 Years, and Expects the Global Fleet of Commercial Aircraft to Double Over That Period.

The Us Manufacturer is Fore-casting a Need for 34,000 New Aircraft, Valued at Over Us$4. 5 Trillion (a$4. 38 Trillion).

“the World’s Aviation Market is Broader, Deeper and More Diverse Than We’ve Ever Seen It,” Said Randy Tinseth, Vice President of Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “it Has Proven to Be Resilient Even During Some Very Challenging Years and is Driving Production Rate Increases Across the Board. ” Driving Demand Will Be Steady Growth in Passenger and Freight Traffic, With Passenger Numbers Expected to Grow at a Rate of 5. 0 Per Cent and Cargo to Grow at 5. 2 Per Cent Annu-ally Over the Next Two Decades. Also Driving the Need for New Aircraft Will Be the Continued Growth of Low-cost Carriers, While Replacement of Older Aircraft is Expected to Account for 41 Per Cent of New Orders.

As in Previous Forecasts, Boeing Expects the Majority of New Deliveries Through 2031 to Be Narrowbody Aircraft, Includ-ing 23,240 Single-aisle Planes Worth Us$2,030bn. It Also Expects 7,950 Twin-aisle Aircraft to Be Delivered, Representing a Us$2,080bn Market, While 790 Large Aircraft (A380 and 747-8 Size) Us$280bn, and 2,020 Regional Jets (Us$80bn) Will Be Required Over the Same Period.

Boeing Says That It Expects the New Aircraft Market to Become More Geographically Balanced, Although the Asia Pacific Region Will Continue to Lead the Way With Demand for 12,030 New Aircraft, Followed by Europe (7,760), North America (7,290) Latin America (2,510), Middle East (2,370) the Former Soviet Union (1,140) and Africa (900).

Military

Bae to Begin Raaf Hawk Upgrade

Bae Systems Uk Has Been Awarded a $25 Million Contract to Upgrade the Raaf’s Hawk Lead-in Fighter Program.

Minister for Defence Mate-riel Jason Clare Said Upgrading the Country’s Fast Jet Training System Would Ensure Its Ef-fectiveness Into the Next Decade. The Hawk is Used to Train Adf Pilots Before They Move on to the F/a-18 Classic Hornet or Super Hornet or, in the Future, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Both Bae Systems Uk and Australia Have Been Work-ing Closely With the Adf to Define the Scope of the Upgrade, Leveraging Off Previous Hawk Development Programs.

Australian Industry is Expected to Play a Facilitation Role in the Early Stages of the Upgrade, Ensuring Compatibil-ity With the Current Lead-in Fighter Training Capability. Australian Companies Will Also Be Responsible for Construc-tion of Simulator Facilities, Modification of the Hawk Fleet, and in-service Support of Equipment, Defence Said.

Jdam-er Completes First Round of Tests

Australia’s Enhanced Joint Direct Attack Munition (Jdam) Has Completed Its First Round of Testing, De-fence Announced on July 10.

A Guidance System That Converts a ‘dumb’ Bomb Into a Gps-guided Weapon, the Jdam Can Be Launched From the Raaf’s F/a-18 Classic and Super Hornet Fighters and Will Be Usable With the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The Enhanced Jdam Fea-tures an Extended Range Wing Kit, a Low Collateral Damage Warhead and a Laser Guidance System, Defence Minister Stephen Smith and Defence Materiel Minister Jason Clare Said in a Joint Statement.

The Wing Kit Allows the Jdam to Glide Towards Its Des-ignated Target, Providing It With the Capacity to Engage Targets at a Substantially Greater Distance Than the Current Jdam, Which Will Allow Raaf Aircrew to en-gage Their Targets From Beyond the Range of Enemy Air Defences.

The Laser Guidance System Will Also Improve the Jdam’s Capacity to Be Guided to at-tack Moving Targets While Retaining the Original Jdam Gps Guidance Modes.

The Extended Range Kit Was Jointly Developed as Part of a Capability and Technology Demonstrator (Ctd) Pro-gram by the Defence Science and Technology Organisa-tion and Boeing. Under an Agreement With Boeing, an Australian Company Will Manufacture the Jdam Extended Range Wing Kit.

Defence Believes the Wing Kit Has Strong Export Potential and May Become Available for International Sale Through the Newly Established Austral-ian Military Sales Office.

Lockheed Delivers First Lrip 3 F-35s

Lockheed Martin Has De-livered Four F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to the Us Air Force and Marine Corps, Bring-ing to Nine the Total of F-35s Delivered So Far This Year.

The Aircraft, Delivered Since June 29, Were the First Jets Manufactured as Part of Low Rate Initial Production (Lrip) Lot 3. They Were Due to Begin Ferrying to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida in Mid-july, Where They Will Be Used for Pilot and Maintainer Training at the Base’s F-35 Integrated Training Center.

The New Jets Include Three F-35a Conventional Takeoff and Landing (Ctol) Variants Destined for the Air Force and One F-35b Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (Stovl) Variant for the Marine Corps. The Four Additions Will Bring the F-35 Fleet at Eglin to 16. The Us Department of Defense Also Has Eight Test Aircraft at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland and Six Test Aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

“to Date, the F-35 Program Has Focused on System Develop-ment and Flight Testing While Most Recently Transitioning to Low Rate Initial Production,” Said Orlando Carvalho, Lockheed Martin Executive Vice President and General Manager, F-35 Program. “we’ve Crossed a Critical Threshold as We Begin Delivering Our Lrip 3 Aircraft. We’re Increasingly Becoming More Operationally Focused. These Deliveries Illustrate the Program’s Natural Progression and Maturation That is Tak-ing Place on a Daily Basis. ” Lockheed Also Released an Update on the F-35 Test Pro-gram, Saying the Fighter Accu-mulated More Test Point in June Than Any Month to Date. As of June 30, F-35s Had Flown 595 Test Flights for the Year, Above a Goal of 445, Lockheed Said.

Boeing Brings Rhino Support on-line

Boeing Says Its F/a-18 Super Hornet Intermediate Level Maintenance Facility (Ilm) at Raaf Base Am-berley is Fully Operational.

The Ilm Facility Provides Local Engineering and Sup-ply Chain Support to Meet the Operational Flying Demands of the Raaf’s 24 F/a-18f Fighter Jets. A Total of Nine Sustainment Workshops Have Been Completed to Date.

“this Milestone Marks an Im-portant Element in the Success-ful Transition of Australia’s Su-per Hornet Acquisition Program to a Sustainment System That is Delivering Timely, Localised Tech-nical Support to the Raaf’s No. 82 Wing,” Said Kim Gillis, Managing Director of Boeing Defence Australia (Bda).

The Ilm Facility Supports the Super Hornet’s External Fuel Tank/aerial Refuelling Pod, Avionics, Life-support and Alternate-mission Equip-ment, Structures, Wheels and Tyres, and Hydraulics, as Well as Aircraft Washing. Boeing Also Supports the Aircraft Through Its Integrated Sustainment Capabilities at Raaf Base Amberley, Including Composite Repairs, a Paintshop, and a Non-destructive Testing Workshop.

Norway Govt Approves Jsf Buy

Norway’s Parliament Has Voted to Approve an Order for 52 F-35a Joint Strike Fighters for Its Air Force, Authorising the Acquisition of the First Two Jets.

Under the Order, Norway’s First Two Aircraft Will Be Oper-ated in the Us, Along With Two Others Being Delivered in 2016 for Training Purposes. The Remaining 48 F-35s Delivered From 2017 Onwards Will Be Based at Ørland Main Air Station in Central Norway.

The Overall Cost of the Procurement Phase of the Project is Estimated at Nok 60bn (a$9. 96bn) in Real Terms, Making It the Larg-est Ever Military Procure-ment in Norway’s History.

As Part of the Deal, Norway Has Also Confirmed That Its Locally-developed Kongsberg Joint Strike Missile Anti-ship and Maritime Strike Weapon Will Be Integrated Into the F-35 Following Dialogue With the Us Department of Defense.

The Joint Strike Missile, Which Can Be Carried Internally in the F-35’s Weapons Bays, is of Interest to the Raaf in Pro-viding Its Forthcoming F-35as With a Naval Strike Capability.

Quickstep Opens Bankstown Facility

Australian Composites Manufacturer Quickstep Has Opened Its Bankstown Produc-tion Facility, and Also an-nounced That It Has Secured a Second Long-term Agreement to Manufacture Parts for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program.

The Bankstown Facility Was Formerly Used by Boeing Aus-tralia, and Comprises a 4,000m2 Hangar With $15 Million of Equipment, While an Adjoin-ing Office Will Now Become Quickstep’s Headquarters.

The First Composite Parts Will Be Produced at the Facil-ity in the Last Quarter of This Year, Replacing Production Currently Done at Its North Coogee Facility in Wa. Under the New Agreement, Quickstep Will Provide More Complex Parts, Including Portions of the Main F-35 Structure and Supports Until 2020, With the First Order Expected in July.

Quickstep Was Also Recently Selected by Lockheed Martin to Produce C-130j Wing Flaps Under a Five-year Contract Valued at $75-100 Million.

Jsf Systems Track Multiple Rocket Launches

Northrop Grumman Has Demonstrated How the F-35 Lightning Ii Joint Strike Fight-er’s Sensors Are Able to Detect and Track Multiple Rocket Launches Using Its an/aaq-37 Distrib-uted Aperture System (Das) and an/apg-81 Active Electronical-ly Scanned Array (Aesa) Radar.

The Demonstration Was Carried Out With the Das and Apg-81 Fitted to a Bac 1-11 Flying Testbed, and Saw the Sen-sors Detect and Track Launches From Nasa’s Science Mis-sion Directorate-sponsored Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment Launch Operation.

The Das and Apg-81 Autonomously Detected, Tracked and Targeted Multiple, Simul-taneous Ballistic Rockets. The Das Autonomously Detected All Five Rockets, Launched in Rapid Succession, and Tracked Them From Initial Launch Well Past the Second Stage Burn-out, According to Northrop.

Boeing to Develop Poseidon’s Little Brother

Boeing Has Announced Plans to Develop a Medium-sized Maritime Surveillance Aircraft Based on Its Larger Reconnaissance Aircraft Such as the P-8 Poseidon.

Boeing Offered Limited Details on Its Plan, Which It Unveiled at the Farnborough Airshow, but Said the New Aircraft Would Leverage Technologies Devel-oped for the P-8 and Other Aircraft and Would Be Based on a ‘super Mid-sized Busi-ness Jet’. That Would Appear to Indicate That the Aircraft Will Be Built Off of Another Manu-facturer’s Airframe, an Unusual Move for Boeing. The P-8 is Based on Boeing’s 737 Airliner.

Company Officials Said the New Aircraft Would Not Be Armed and Would Not Retain the P-8’s Anti-submarine Capabil-ity, but Would Focus on Aerial Surveillance and Intelligence Gathering. Boeing is Offering the Aircraft to the Global Market and Says It Expects the Jet to Fly by Next Year. The Company Projects a Potential Us$10 Billion Market for the Aircraft.

Boeing, Embraer to Cooperate on Kc-390

Boeing and Embraer Have Signed an Agreement to Share Technical Knowl-edge and Jointly Evaluate Markets for the Kc-390 Tanker/transport Program.

The New Agreement Builds on a Broader Collabora-tion Accord Signed in April Between the Two Aerospace Companies, Which Initially Focused on Exploring Ways to Cooperate in Commercial Airplane Efficiency and Safety, Research and Technology, and Sustainable Aviation Biofuels.

The Kc-390 is Officially a Brazilian Air Force Contract for Which Embraer Signed a De-velopment Deal in April 2009. The Medium-sized Tanker/ Transport Will Be Powered by Iae V2500-e5 Engines, and is Being Targeted as a Replace-ment for C-130 Hercules Transports Around the World.

To Date There Are Commit-ments for 54 Kc-390s From the Governments of Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Portugal and the Czech Republic.

Aussie ‘redback’ to Power Us Navy Uavs

Perth’s Orbital Corpora-tion Has Won a Major Contract From Textron Subsidiary Aai to Provide Engines for Un-manned Aerial Vehicles to Be Operated by the Us Navy.

Orbital Developed the Heavy Fuel Engine, Nick-named ‘redback’ by Orbital’s Staff, With Aai’s Australian Operation Aerosonde to Power Uavs Which Will See Service With the Us Navy’s Special Operations Command.

The Redback Engine is a Two-stroke, Single-cylinder Unit Manufactured From Lightweight Materials, and is Designed to Run on Heavier Jp5 and Jp8 Military Kerosene-based Fuels. Orbital Says That the Minia-ture Engine, Which Can Fit Into a Shoebox, Has Advanced Fuel Injection Systems Which Provide for Greater Reliability, Longer Endurance and Larger Payloads Than Existing Uav Engines.

The Contract is Worth Up to $4. 7 Million Through 2012, and is Expected to Open the Way for More Uavs to Be Fitted With Orbital Engines in the Future.

Indonesia to Get More Super Tucanos

the Indonesian Air Force Has Signed a Contract for a Second Batch of Eight Embraer a-29 Super Tucano Light Attack and Tactical Training Aircraft.

The Deal Builds on a Previous Order for Eight Super Tucanos Signed in November 2010. Indonesia is Slated to Receive the First Four Aircraft From That Batch in August 2012, Embraer Said. Deliveries of the Second Batch Are Slated for 2014.

Airlines

Emirates Wants Codeshare, but Will Not Buy Into Qantas

Emirates President Tim Clark Says That His Carrier Has Reached Out to Qantas and Would Like the Two Carriers to Work Together, but Has Denied That the Dubai-based Car-rier is Looking to Take a Stake in the Flying Kangaroo.

Speaking to Journalists at the Sidelines of the Iata Agm in Beijing in June, Mr Clark Con-firmed That Emirates Had Made an Initial Approach to Qantas Seeking a Codeshare Arrange-ment to Strengthen Its Network in the Oceania Region, but He Ruled Out an Equity Alliance.

“emirates is a Wholly Organic Animal,” Mr Clark Said. “we Are Not an M and a (Merger and Acquisition) Vehicle, We Don’t Really Get Involved in That. ”

Qantas Warns Canberra It Could “go Under”

Qantas Has Warned the Federal Government and Opposition That It Could “go Under” if Etihad Airways Was Given the Green Light to Take Over Virgin Aus-tralia’s Domestic Operations.

The Warning Came Amid Reports That Qantas Ceo Alan Joyce and Other Airline Executives Have Been Lobbying Politicans to Place Controls on How Much Etihad Can Buy of Virgin, or to Modify the Qantas Sale Act to Allow It to Access More Foreign Investment and Possibly to Split Ownership of the Qantas Domestic and Qan-tas International Operations.

Reports Also Cited a Briefing Paper in Which Qantas Predicts That an Etihad-influenced Virgin Could Flood the Mar-ket With Capacity and Attack the Most Profitable Domestic Routes, Forcing Competitors to Reduce Their Own Operations.

Under the Qantas Sale Act, Foreign Investors May Only Own Up to 49 Per Cent of Qantas, With No Foreign Investor Able to Hold More Than a 25 Per Cent Stake. By Contrast, Virgin Australia Does Not Have Any Limits to Foreign Ownership of Its Domestic Operations.

Qatar Arrives in Perth, Seeks Qantas Codeshares

Qatar Airways Ceo Akbar Al Baker Has Said That His Airline is Seeking a Codeshare Partnership With Qantas Fol-lowing the Arrival of Its First Service From Doha to Perth.

Flight Qr900, Operated by a 259-seat Boeing 777-200lr, Touched Down at Perth in-ternational Airport Shortly Before 5pm on July 3, and Then Departed at 11pm on Its Return to Doha. The Airline Now Flies Three Times Weekly to Perth, and Will Increase to Daily Services From December 2, While It Also Flies Daily to Melbourne.

Responding to a Question From Australian Aviation, Mr Al Baker Said That the Airline Was in Talks With Qantas to Implement a Two-way Code-share Agreement, Which Would See the Qr Code Added to Some Domestic Qantas Services, While the Qf Code Would Be Added to Qatar’s Services to Doha.

He Also Defended Embattled Qantas Ceo Alan Joyce, Tell-ing Reporters, “you Have a Good Guy Running It, in My Opinion. ”

Jetstar Japan Takes Off

Jetstar Japan Launched Its Inaugural Service on July 3, Flying a 180-seat Airbus A320 From Tokyo/narita to Sapporo.

The New Low-cost Carrier is Initially Flying From Tokyo/ Narita to Sapporo, Fukuoka, Okinawa and Osaka and Will Later Add Flights From Osaka to Sapporo and Fukuoka.

“jetstar Has Been Operating International Flights Into Japan From Australia and Singapore for the Past Five Years, So This Domestic Operation is Starting From a Position of Strength When It Comes to Consumer Rec-ognition and Trust,” Said Jetstar Group Ceo Jayne Hrdlicka.

Shareholders in the Air-line Include the Qantas Group, Japan Air Lines, Mitsubishi Corporation and Century Tokyo Leasing.

Jetstar Japan Starts Nearly Five Months Ahead of Its Initial Schedule, and Less Than One Year Since It Was First Announced.

Aussie Pax Numbers Hit New Highs

the Bureau of Infrastruc-ture, Transport and Regional Economics Has Released Its Annual Reports on Interna-tional and Domestic Passenger Activity, Showing That 2011 Set New Records for Both Sectors.

International Passenger Numbers Increased by Five Per Cent on the Previous Year to 28. 12 Million, While Total Seat Capacity Increased by 6. 9 Per Cent to 38. 073 Million. Seat Utilisation Fell by 2. 6 Percentage Points to 74. 8 Per Cent in 2011.

Travel Between China and Australia Jumped by More Than 38 Per Cent While Travel to and From Indonesia Grew by 22 Per Cent and Vietnam Rose More Than Seven Per Cent.

Qantas Airways Had the Largest Share of the Interna-tional Market With 18. 2 Per Cent Followed by Singapore Airlines With 9. 0 Per Cent, Air New Zealand With 8. 3 Per Cent, Emirates With 7. 9 Per Cent and Jetstar With 7. 8 Per Cent.

Domestic Passenger Numbers Were Up 0. 6 Per Cent to 54. 27 Million, as Available Seats in-creased by 0. 3 Per Cent to 69. 84 Million. Industry Wide Load Factor Decreased by 0. 1 Percent-age Points to 78. 9 Per Cent.

Melbourne-sydney Re-mained the Busiest Domestic Route, Despite a Decrease of 2. 2 Per Cent. This Was Fol-lowed by Brisbane-sydney and Brisbane-melbourne.

Qantas Receives First Reconfigured A380

Qantas Has Received the First of Its Reconfigured Air-bus A380s, Which Adds More Economy Seats at the Ex-pense of Business Class and Self-service Snack Bars.

With the Reconfiguration, Total Capacity of the Aircraft is Raised to 484 Passengers, Largely Due to the Addition of 39 Economy Seats, Most of Which Are Located in the Rear of the Upper Deck, Taking Total Economy Seat Count Up to 371. Three More Premium Economy Seats Are Also Added, Taking Total Count to 35, While Eight Skybed Business Class Seats Have Been Removed to Leave a Total of 64.

Qantas Has Maintained Its 14 First Class Suites on the Lower Deck.

The Airline Has Also Removed Five Self-service Snack Bars From the Aircraft, Includ-ing Two in the Business Class Cabin and the Sole One From the Premium Economy Cabin.

Qantas Says That the Changes Make the Aircraft Better Suited to the Demands of Passengers on the London and Los an-geles Services They Operate on.

Qantas Says That All 12 A380s Currently in Its Fleet Will Undergo Reconfiguration Up to April 2013, With the Work Being Done at Lufthansa Technik Philippines in Manila.

Qantas Adds to Dfw and Perth Routes

Qantas is Adding Capacity to Its Sydney-dallas/fort Worth and Perth-melbourne Routes.

From July 1, Qantas Added Another Weekly Flight on the Sydney-dallas Route, Taking It to a Daily Service. The Flight From Sydney Operates Direct to Dallas, While the Return Service Operates via Brisbane.

Qantas Also Announced That Boeing 767-300s Will Be Replaced With Airbus A330s on 24 Services Per Week Between Perth and Melbourne, Includ-ing 12 Services Which Will Be Operated by Internationally-configured Aircraft Featuring the Skybed Business Class Seat. The Change Will Go Into Effect From October 15.

The Move is Largely Seen as a Response to Virgin Australia, Which in May Deployed Its Newest A330-200s Onto the Key Perth-melbourne and Perth-sydney Markets. Qantas Has Also Recently Redeployed Some of Its 747-400s Onto Selected Perth-sydney Services.

Virgins to Codeshare

Virgin Australia Will Enter Into a Codeshare Agree-ment With Virgin America, Which Will Further Extend Its North American Network.

The Agreement, Subject to Regulatory Approval, Will See Virgin Australia Add Its Code to Virgin America Flights From Los Angeles to Portland, Washington Dc, Boston, Dal-las, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Philadelphia and Seattle.

Virgin Australia Says That It Expects Approval for the Codeshare Agreement to Be Granted in the Next Few Months, and That It Will Move to Implement the Arrange-ments as Soon as Possible.

Virgin Australia Also Has a Comprehensive Codeshare Arrangement With Alliance Partner Delta Air Lines.

Qantas Launches New Ad, Social Media Campaign

Qantas Has Launched a New Advertising and Social Media Campaign Aimed at Repair-ing Its Damaged Image.

The Campaign Features a New Tagline, ‘you’re the Reason We Fly’ and a Subtle Change to the Slogan on the Side of Two of Its Aircraft, an Airbus A380 and a Boeing 737, to ‘the Spirit of Australians’.

“our Customers Wanted to See Us Take a Different and More Creative Approach … They Wanted Us to Talk About the People, the Spirit of Austral-ians and Not Just the Place,” Said Qantas Executive Manager Marketing Lewis Pullen.

A Large Part of the Campaign is Based on Using Social Media, With the Airline Launching a Dedicated Website Where Mem-bers From the Public Will Be Able to Upload Photos of Themselves to Be Part of an Advertising Campaign, and Also Have Their Name Applied to the ‘the Spirit of Australians’ A380 and 737.

Qantas Has Also Released an Iphone and Android App Called ‘qantas You’ to Allow Users to Participate in the Campaign.

While the New Round of Advertising Will See the ‘i Still Call Australia Home’ Anthem Benched, Qantas Says That the Song Remains Its Anthem and Will Ap-pear in Further Campaigns.

Tiger Takes Off From Sydney Base

Tiger Airways Australia Started Flying From Its New Sydney Base on July 1, With Plans to Ramp-up Its Pres-ence in Australia as It Recovers From Its Grounding Last Year.

Tiger is Initially Operating Up to Four Daily Services Between Sydney and the Gold Coast, and Will Use the New Base to Bolster Frequencies to Mel-bourne and Brisbane. By the Start of September It Will Have Three A320s Based in Sydney, While an Additional Aircraft Will Be Delivered to Its Melbourne Headquarters in August.

To Celebrate the Launch of the New Base, the Airline Released 10,000 Seats at $10 on the Sydney-melbourne Route, and Also Launched a Sale on Its Other Routes.

“our Formative Years Are Behind Us,” Said Tiger Air-ways Australia Ceo Andrew David. “tiger Has Grown and We Are Now Moving on With a Great Value Service That All Australian Travelers Should Try at Least Once. The Mil-lion Plus Domestic Passengers Who Have Flown With Us Since We Resumed Operations Have Provided Overwhelming Support for the Relaunched Product. ” the Airline is Expected to Announce More Routes Over the Coming Six Months, and Fol-lows on From a Recent Fare Sale Across Large Parts of Its Network, Which Even Saw Longer Routes Such as Melbourne-cairns on Sale From $69. 95 One Way.

With Tiger Now Placing a Greater Importance on Compet-ing in the Domestic Market, It is Expected That There May Be a Fare War Brewing Between It and Jetstar, While the Added Capacity is Also Likely to Have an Impact on Virgin and Qantas.

Qantas, Alaea Stoush Over Lame-less Ramps Fair Work Australia Has Upheld a Qantas Application Against the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Associa-tion (Alaea) After the Union Instructed Its Members to Continue With Transit Checks on Some Qantas Domestic Aircraft. Qantas Says That Casa Has Approved the New ‘main-tenance on Demand’ Regime for Domestically-operated Boeing 737-800s and Airbus A330s to Start From June 13, Which It Says Brings It in Line With Virgin Australia and Jetstar. However, the Alaea Issued a Notice to Members on June 12 Advising Them to Continue to Conduct Pre-flight Checks on All Turnarounds.

Following Qantas’s Applica-tion to the Industrial Umpire, However, Fair Work Issued Binding Orders Requiring the Union to Cease the Unpro-tected Industrial Action, With Effect From 8pm June 14.

“we Have Invested Sig-nificantly in New Aircraft, Which Enables a More Modern Approach to Servicing and Maintenance,” Said Qantas Domestic Ceo Lyell Strambi. “modern Aircraft Have So-phisticated Systems Which Alert Us to Mechanical Issues Meaning Engineers Don’t Need to Check the Aircraft Before Every Single Domestic Flight. ” Mr Strambi Added That the Move, Which Now Sees Trained Pilots Carry Out Pre-flight Inspections Rather Than an Engineer Does Not Compromise Safety.

Alaea Federal Secretary Steve Purvinas Said That the Union Has Major Concerns That the Maintenance on Demand System Would Result in a Lower Level of Aviation Safety, and Claims That Qantas Failed to Seek the Required Stakeholder Commitment as Required by Its Safety Management System.

“we Advise That Your Participation Would There-fore Be Endorsing an Illegal, Defective and Unsafe Proce-dure,” Mr Purvinas Had Said in the Notice to Members.

Meanwhile, Qantas Has Also Announced That 108 Engineer-ing Positions in Sydney Will Be Lost as Part of Restructuring of Its Maintenance Operations.

The Loss of Jobs in Sydney Will Be Offset by the Creation of 72 New Engineering Posi-tions in Melbourne. Qan-tas Says That It Would Offer Affected Workers Relocation to Melbourne or Brisbane.

Joyce Takes Over as Iata Chairman

Qantas Ceo Alan Joyce Has Taken Over as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the International Air Trans-port Association (Iata).

“the Top Priorities, as Always, Will Be Safety, Security, and Sustainability. On Top of That, I Want to See Iata Continue to Deliver Value to Its Members by Being a Strong Advocate for the Industry,” He Said.

Mr Joyce Succeeded Klm Ceo Peter Haart-man, Who Concluded His Term at the End of the Recent Iata Agm in Bejing.

Mr Joyce Will Hold the Posi-tion for One Year, and Will Be Replaced by Delta Air Lines Ceo Richard Anderson at Next Year’s Agm, Which Will Be Held in Cape Town.

First Airline Customer Advocate Named

Julia Lines Has Been Named Australia’s First Airline Cus-tomer Advocate in a Move Meant to Give Passengers a Stronger Voice in Resolving Disputes With Air Carriers.

Ms Lines, a Former Manager of Complaint Assessments at the Health Care Complaints Commission, Will Be Based in Sydney in a Role Funded by Australia’s Main Airlines.

The Position, Announced Earlier This Year, is Tasked With Resolving Complaints Customers Have Been Unable to Sort Out With the Airlines.

“the Creation of This Independent Position Means That for the First Time, Airline Customers Will Be Provided With a Real Alternative When They Are Unable to Resolve a Com-plaint Directly With an Airline,” Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese Said in Announcing the Appointment.

Mr Albanese Said the Customer Advocate Will Seek to Resolve Complaints Within 20 Working Days.

Iata Sticks to Us$3bn Profit Forecast

Iata Says That It Still Expects the Global Airline Industry to Record a Collec-tive Profit of Us$3 Billion This Year, Despite Pressure From the Eurozone Economic Crisis.

“the $3. 0 Billion Industry Profit Forecast Has Not Changed. But Almost Everything in the Equation Has,” Said Iata Ceo and Director General Tony Tyler. “demand Has Been Better Than Expected, So Far This Year. And Fuel Prices Are Now Lower Than Previously Anticipated, but That’s on the Expectation of Economic Weakness Ahead. The Eurozone Crisis is Standing in the Way of Improved Profit-ability and We Continue to Face the Prospect of a Net Profit Margin of Just 0. 5 Per Cent. ” Profits From Airlines in the Asia Pacific Region Are Expected to Contribute $2. 0 Billion to the Collective Result, Despite Being Revised Down by $300 Mil-lion on the Previous Forecast. North America is Forecast to Contribute $1. 4 Billion to the Profit Result as Yields in the Market Have Improved Due to Capacity Management.

Those Profits Will Be Off-set by a Forecast $1. 1 Billion Loss From European Carri-ers as the Eurozone Crisis Spreads Through the Year.

Virgin Seeks More Sia Codeshares

Virgin Australia Has Made an Application to the Inter-national Air Services Com-mission (Iasc) to Allow It to Codeshare on Singapore Airlines (Sia) Services to Amsterdam and Paris.

In Its Iasc Application, Vir-gin Seeks an Allocation of 400 Seats Per Week on the Nether-lands Route to Allow It to Code-share With Sia on Australia- Singapore-amsterdam Services. The Carrier is Seeking a Five-year Allocation Which Would Be Fully Used by March 24 2013.

Virgin Has Also Lodged Another Application Which Seeks to Amend a Previous Allocation on the France Route Which Al-lowed It to Codeshare on Etihad Airways Services on the Aus-tralia-abu Dhabi-paris Route.

Virgin Already Codeshares on a Number of Sia Services From Australia to Destina-tions in Asia and South Africa, While Sia Codeshares on Virgin Domestic Flights.

Virgin and Sia Have Also Announced New Round-the-world and Pacific Circle Fares.

The Two Carriers’ Round-the-world Fare Starts From $2,264 and Requires Both a Trans- Pacific and a Trans-atlantic Crossing. The Circle Pacific Fare Starts From $1,969, Offer-ing the Ability to Travel to 36 Destinations in 13 Countries.

Skywest Expecting Lower Profit

Perth-based Skywest Says That It Expects Its Profit for the Year Ending June 30 to Come in Lower Than the Previous Year as a Result of “significantly Abnormal” Aircraft Cross-hire Charges and Startup Costs for Its Wet Lease Opera-tions for Virgin Australia.

Although Stating That It Did Not as a Matter of Policy Release Profit Guidance, It Expects Net Profit After Tax to Come in at S$2m (a$1. 54m), While Earn-ings Before Interest, Tax, Depre-ciation and Amortisation Should Come in at S$47m (a$36m).

Skywest Says That During the Second Half of the Financial Year It Incurred S$10m (a$7. 7m) in Cross-hire Charges, Compared to S$4m (a$3m) the Previ-ous Year, While One-off Charges Associated With the Start of Its Atr 72 Operations for Virgin Australia Under Its Austral-ian Regional Airline Network (Aran) Agreement Also Would Drive Down Its Bottom Line.

While Profit is Expected to Be Lower Due to Those One-off Charges, Skywest Says That the Start of the Aran Arrange-ment in October Last Year Should See Its Revenue for the Full Year Grow by 35 Per Cent to S$300m (a$231m).

The Company Expects the Aran Will Continue to Grow Over the Coming Year and Contribute More Revenue, With a Further Six Atr 72s to Be Added to the Fleet by June 2013.

The Airline Also Said That It Expects Revenue From Charter Operations This Year to Be Up by 15 Per Cent, Despite Losing Major Contracts With Fortes-cue Metals Group and Rio Tinto’s Argyle Diamond Mine in Recent Months. Skywest Added That It “continues to Receive Interest From Current and Potential Future Customers for Additional Charter Work. ”

Emirates to Fly to Adelaide, Up Perth Capacity

Emirates Will Launch Nonstop Flights From Dubai to Ad-elaide in November, and Will Also Increase Capacity on Its Melbourne and Perth Services, the Carrier Has Announced.

The Dubai-based Airline Will Start Four Times Weekly Services to Adelaide on November 1, Utilising a Three-class Boe-ing 777-300er on the Route. The Airline Also Announced That It is Adding an Additional Five 777-3000er Services to Perth From December 1.

Emirates Has Previously Announced That It Will Add Capacity to Melbourne, With a Daily Boeing 777-300er Service Being Upgraded to an A380 From October.

Virgin Expands Mobile Offerings

Virgin Australia Has Launched a New Flight Spe-cials Iphone Application and is Also Implementing Mobile Boarding Passes Across Its Mainline Domestic Ports.

The Flight Specials Iphone App Allows Users to View the Lat-est Fare Specials and Sign Up for Notifications When a Particular Route May Be on Sale. Virgin Says That It is Also Developing a Similar App for Android Phones.

The Airline Has Also Intro-duced Mobile Check-in for Domestic Flights, Where Smart-phone Users Will Be Able to Check-in via the Virgin Mobile Website and Send Their Boarding Pass as an Sms, Which is Then Scanned at the Departure Gate.

Hawaiian Says Aloha to Brisbane

Hawaiian Airlines Has Announced That It Will Start Direct Flights to Brisbane in November, Making It the Only Us Carrier to Serve the Queensland Capital.

Hawaiian Will Start Three Times Weekly Services From Brisbane to Honolulu From November 28, With the Flights Operated by 262-seat Boe-ing 767-300ers. The Flights Will Be Timed to Connect at Honolulu With the Airline’s Services to Other Hawai-ian Islands, and Also Offer the Possibility of Connections to Mainland Us Destinations.

Hawaiian Recently Upgraded Its Daily Services to Sydney to Airbus A330-200s. The Airline is Also a Partner in Virgin Aus-tralia’s Velocity Loyalty Program.

Singapore Airlines Increases Adelaide Flights

Singapore Airlines Began an Additional Three Weekly Services to Adelaide From July 2, Reinstating Flights It Had Dropped Earlier This Year.

The New Services Will Operate on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays, and Will Be Flown With Airbus A330-300s.

Air Pacific Returns to Profit

Fijian Flag Carrier Air Pacific Has Posted a Profit for the Year Ending March 31, Reversing Two Years of Losses.

Air Pacific Limited Recorded an Operating Profit for the Year of F$16. 5m (a$9. 03m), Mark-ing a Major Turnaround From the Operating Loss of F$3. 7m (a$2. 02m) the Previous Year. That Came on the Back of Record Revenue of F$645. 9m (a$353. 6m), a 16 Per Cent Increase on the Year Prior.

The Air Pacific Group, Which Also Includes Pacific Sun and a Stake in the Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa, Recorded an Operating Profit of F$13. 4m (a$7. 33m).

Jetstar Japan Leases 24 A320s

Jetstar Japan Has Finalised Deals to Lease 24 New Airbus A320 Jetliners and Said It Would Take Delivery of the Aircraft Over the Next Three Years.

All 24 of the Aircraft Will Be Sourced Through Existing Qantas Group Orders, Allow-ing Jetstar Japan Access to Early Delivery Slots, the Partly Qantas Owned Budget Carrier Said.

Eleven of the New Aircraft Will Be Leased Through Existing Jetstar Japan Shareholders Mit-subishi Corporation (Five Air-craft) and Century Tokyo Leas-ing (Six Aircraft). The Remainder Will Be Procured Through Ge Capital Aviation Services, Hong Kong Aviation Capital and Jackson Square Aviation, Which Will Lease Six, Four and Three Aircraft Respectively.

Jetstar Japan Began Com-mercial Operations on July 3 With a Fleet of Three A320s and Had Flagged Plans to Expand Its Fleet to 24 Aircraft.

Airline Briefs

• Qantas Has Added the Abil-ity to Book Both International and Domestic Flights to the Mobile Version of Its Website.

• Emirates Will Exclusively Operate Airbus A380s on Its Five Daily Services From Dubai to London-heathrow From February Next Year, the Carrier Has Announced.

• Aireen Omar is Taking Over as Ceo of Airasia Malaysia From July 1 as Founding Ceo Tony Fernandes is Moving Into a Group Role to Be Based in Jakarta. Ms Omar Was for-merly Airasia’s Regional Head of Corporate Finance and Treasury.

• Indonesian Carrier Lion Air Has Made a Commitment to Order Five Boeing 787-8s. The Order is Expected to Be Finalised Later in the Year. Lion Air Has Said That the Aircraft Will Be Operated by Its Full-service Subsidiary Batik Air.

Airports

Latrobe Airport Gets Federal Grant

Latrobe Regional Airport in Victoria Will Commence Rede-velopment Works After Receiving a Federal Grant, but the Victo-rian Government is Unhappy That Another Project at War-rnambool Regional Airport Has Missed Out on Federal Money.

The Federal Government Will Put $3 Million Towards Infrastructure Works at Latrobe Regional Airport in Morwell From Its Regional Development Australia Fund, With the Vic-torian Government and Latrobe City Council Also Contributing to the $6. 5 Million Project.

The Funding Will Allow for Provision of Utilities to Five Hectares of Land Adjacent to the Gippsaero Production Facility, as Well as Upgrades to Runway Lighting, Fitting a Precision Approach Path Indica-tor System and the Expan-sion of the Airport’s Apron.

While Welcoming the Funds for the Latrobe Upgrade, Victo-ria’s Aviation Minister Gordon Rich-phillips Said He Was Disappointed That an Applica-tion for a $2 Million Grant to Help Fund the Redevelopment of Warrnambool Regional Airport Into an Airpark Was Rejected. This is Despite the Victorian Government Already Allocating $2 Million to the Project From Its Regional Aviation Fund.

More Regional Airport Security Funds

the Federal Government Has Announced Funding to Assist 18 Regional Airports to Up-grade Security Arrangements as a Result of New Regulations That Took Effect on July 1.

The Latest Funding Comes on Top of $32 Million Provided for the Purchase of Security Screening Equipment, as Well as $9 Million Towards Train-ing Security Staff to Use New Screening Technologies.

“the $4. 9 Million Being an-nounced Today Will Go Towards Minor Modifications of Passen-ger Terminal Facilities Including the Installation of Passenger Walkways, Glass Panels and Check Points,” Said Transport Minister Anthony Albanese.

The Funding is Contingent on a Dollar for Dollar Matching by the Airport Operator’s Contribu-tion, With Funding Amounts of $100,000 to $460,000.

Airports Receiving the Funding Include Horn Island, Devonport, Tam-worth and Busselton.

From July 1 All Airports Receiving Aircraft With Over 20 Tonnes Maximum Takeoff Weight Are Required to Com-mence Passenger and Checked Baggage Security Screening.

General Aviation

Smaller Operators Easier to Get Damps

Casa is Introducing a More Simplified Drug and Alcohol Management Processes for Smaller Aviation Organisations Not Engaged in Rpt Operations.

Organisations With Seven Employees or Fewer Who Are Engaged in Safety-sensitive Activities Will Be Able to Use a Standardised Damp Plan Provided by Casa, and Will Also Be Able to Use an E-learning Package to Train and Educate Their Employees on Their Drug and Alcohol Responsibilities.

“casa Has Listened to the Concerns of the Aviation Industry About the Impact of Drug and Alcohol Manage-ment Plans on Small Organisa-tions and Found a Solution That is Simpler and Protects Safety,” Said Director of Avia-tion Safety John Mccormick.

Organisations Eligible to Use the Simplified System Will Still Be Required to Report Their Damp Performance to Casa Every Six Months and Will Also Be Subject to Checks for Compliance From the Regulator.

Medicals Simplified for Some Private Pilots

Some Private Pilots Will No Longer Have to Undergo a Class 2 Medical and Will Be Able to Visit Any General Practi-tioner Under New Regulations Recently Adopted by Casa.

The New Medical Standards for Private and Recreational Operations Are Based on the Unconditional Motor Vehicle Driving Licence Standard, With a Range of Aviation-specific Additional Requirements for Some Conditions That May Pose a Safety Risk in Aviation.

The New Medical Certificate Restricts Casa-licensed Pilots to Flying Single Piston Engine Aircraft Weighing Less Than 1,500kg Maximum Takeoff Weight, Operating at Less Than 10,000ft Above Sea Level in Visual Meteorological Condi-tions, With Only One Informed and Consenting Passenger on Board. Pilots Using the New Medical Will Have Ac-cess to Controlled Airspace.

If a Control Seat is Occupied by an Appropriately Licensed Pilot With a Current Class 1 or 2 Medical Certificate, Those Restrictions Do Not Apply.

The New Medical Certificate Can Be Issued by a General Practitioner, as Opposed to Class 1 or 2 Certficate Which Must Be Issued by a Designated Aviation Medical Examiner.

Wa Police Take Airvan

the Wa Police Air Wing Has Taken Delivery of a Spe-cially Equipped Gippsaero Ga8 Airvan, Which Will Replace a Cessna 182 Used for Aerial Surveillance Work.

The Air Wing Previously Used the Cessna in the Sur-veillance Role, Which Included Using a Forward-looking Infrared Camera (Flir) and Other Camera Equipment to Spot Drug Plantations in Some Areas of State Forest.

The Surveillance Equipment is Mounted Within a Fairing Which is Similar to the Standard Cargo Pod. The Airvan is Also Capable of Carrying a Flir Similar to Those Fitted to the Air Wing’s Two Helicopters.

Business Aviation

Harbin Embraer to Build Legacy 600/650s

Embraer Has Signed a New Agreement With Its Chinese Joint Venture Partner Aviation Industry Corporation of China (Avic) to Build Legacy 600 and 650 Business Jets in China.

The Aircraft Will Be Built by the Two Parties’ Existing Joint Venture, Harbin Embraer Aircraft Industry Co (Heai), Which Started Operations in 2002 Building Regional Jet Aircraft for the Chinese Market.

Icbc Leasing Will Be the First Customer for the Chinese-built Legacy 650, With a Firm Order for Five Aircraft Plus Five Options Announced on June 21. The First Delivery From the Harbin Line Will Take Place by the End of 2013.

Support

Uavs to the Resqu

Research That Could Fast-track the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Uavs) in Civil Airspace Could Lead to a Greater Use of the Technology in Disaster Situations, According to the Backers of Project Resqu.

The $7 Million Project is Aimed at Fast-tracking Re-search Into Fitting Uavs With Smart Technology to Sense and Avoid Other Aircraft and Land Safely in an Emergency, Helping to Make It Safer for Uavs to Operate in Civil Air-space and Assist With Disaster Relief and Other Operations.

The Research is Being Conducted by the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (Arcaa) at the Queensland University of Technology in Conjunction With Boeing Research & Technolo-gy-australia, Boeing Subsidiary Insitu Pacific and the Csiro.

“there is Significant Potential for Use of Uavs for Other Land-based Civilian Applications if We Can Get Appropriate Technol-ogy and Processes in Place for Management of the Airspace,” Said Insitu Pacific Managing Director Andrew Duggan.

Arcaa Director Associate Professor Duncan Campbell Says That the Research Could Lead to the Regular Use of Uavs for Disaster Relief and Other Civil Applications.

“because They Can Fly for Extended Periods of Time in Conditions Considered Too Dangerous for Manned Air-craft, They Are Ideally Suited to Search and Rescue Activi-ties as Well as Flood Mapping, Conducting Damage Assess-ments and Delivering Aid to Remote Communities,” He Said.

The Research is Expected to Conclude by Mid-2014, With the Aim of Being Able to Make Recommendations to Casa as Part of Its Review of Regula-tions on Uavs, Which Will Be Completed by the End of 2014.

Shell Sponsors Aviation Hall of Fame

Shell Aviation Has Become a Founding Partner of the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame, and Will Be the Nam-ing Sponsor for the Inaugural Induction in September.

The Australian Aviation Hall of Fame Was Established in 2010 by a Group of Avia-tion Industry Veterans and is Designed to Honour People and Organisations That Have Made an Outstanding Contri-bution to Aviation in Aus-tralia and Australians Who Have Made an Outstanding Contribution Internationally.

The First Induction Gala Dinner Will Be Held on Septem-ber 15 at Charles Sturt Univer-sity in Wagga Wagga, Nsw.

Ge and Jeppesen Are the Other Founding Partners of the Hall of Fame, Which Will Initially Commence Online but Will Have a Physical Presence at a Facility in Wagga Wagga.

Atc & Airspace

Airservices Opens Broome Facilities

Transport Minister Anthony Albanese Has Officially Opened Airservices’ First Combined Air Traffic Control (Atc) Tower and Fire Station at Broome Airport.

The Atc Tower, Which is the First New One in Australia in 15 Years, Stands at Just Over 16m Tall, and Features the Latest Air Navigation Technology, While the Fire Station Houses Three Rosenbauer Mk 8 Ultra-large Fire Vehicles. The Complex Was Designed and Built Over 14 Months at a Cost of $20 Million.

New Radar and Ils Working at Canberra

Airservices Has Commis-sioned a New Terminal Area Radar and Instrument Land-ing System (Ils) at Can-berra Airport Which It Says Will Deliver Enhanced Guid-ance and Surveillance for Aircraft Operating There.

The New Terminal Area Radar on Mount Majura Was Com-missioned in May, and Required Temporary Radar to Be Erected at Sandra’s View to Main-tain Aircraft Safety While the New Radar Was Constructed.

The Radar Replacement Fol-lowed an Upgrade by Airser-vices to the Ils at the Airport.

Airservices Says That Both Projects Are Part of a $1 Bil-lion Investment Over Five Years in Upgrading Air Naviga-tion and Surveillance Equip-ment Around the Country.

Airservices Hails Collaboration

Airservices Says That a New Industry-wide Collabora-tive Approach to Air Traffic Management in Australia Has Resulted in More Efficient Operations for Airlines.

Collaborative Decision Mak-ing Sees Airservices, Airlines and Airports Sharing Data to Maximise Use of Available Airspace and Airport Capacity, Reduce Fuel Burn and Environ-mental Emissions, and Enhance Safety, the Organisation Says.

The First Stage of the Col-laborative Program Has Seen Aircraft Held on the Ground When the Capacity of Their Destination Airport is Expected to Be Exceeded, Helping to Reduce en Route Holding, and Subsequently Lowering Fuel Burn on a Number of Sectors.

Ils Upgrade for Alice Springs

Airservices Has Started the First Phase of an Upgrade to the Instrument Landing System at Alice Springs Airport.

The Existing 18-year-old Ils on Runway 12 at the Airport Will Be Progressively Upgraded Over the Next Four Months, With the New Ils to Be Brought Into Service by Late September.

Air Safety

New Research Calls for Shake Up of Turbulence Guidelines

New Australian Research Shows That Thunderstorms Can Produce Turbulence More Than 100km Away From a Storm Cell, Calling for a Rethink of Current Turbulence-avoidance Guidelines.

Dr Todd Lane From the Cen-tre of Excellence for Climate System Science Says That Re-search Has Shown That Thunder-storms Can Cause Gravity Waves Which Modify Airflow, Strength-ening Jet Stream and Enhancing Wind Shear Significant Distances Away From the Storm Cell Itself.

“previously It Was Thought Turbulence Outside of Clouds Was Mostly Caused by Jet Streams and Changes in Wind Speed at Differing Altitudes, Known as Wind Shear, but This Research Re-veals Thunderstorms Play a More Critical Role,” He Said.

Many Flights Into and Out of the Australasian Region Regu-larly Encounter Thunderstorms and Divert Around Storm Cells to Try and Minimise the Effects of Turbulence, but Dr Lane Says That Guidelines on Safe Distances Written Many Years Ago May Need to Be Rewritten in Light of the Greater Under-standing of How the Storms Can Affect Conditions Further Away.

“it is Time to Alter Air Turbulence Guidelines in Light of This Knowledge and Employ New Technologies to Forecast Where It is Likely to Occur to Improve Air Safety for All Air Travellers,” He Said.

Pilots Urged to Report Wirestrikes

the Atsb Has Called on Pilots to Report Wirestrike Incidents After a Recent Report Showed That There Were Around 100 Incidents Which Were Not Reported Between 2003 and 2011.

In Its Study on Reporting of Wirestrike Incidents, the Atsb Found That Over the Nine Year Period Nearly 40 Per Cent of Wirestrikes Were Not Reported as is Required Under the Trans-port Safety Investigation Act.

“we Need to Be Told When Things Go Wrong, So That We Can Examine What Hap-pened and See What Needs to Be Done to Improve Future Safety,” Said Chief Commis-sioner Martin Dolan.

Wirestrikes Occur When an Aircraft Operating at Low Level Flies Into a Powerline or Cable.

The Atsb Says That It Will Engage in a Wide Range of Activities to Increase Aware-ness of the Importance of Reporting Wirestrikes.

People Crompton to Head Virgin Sales Virgin Australia Has an-nounced That Judith Crompton Has Been Appointed to the New Role of Group Executive Sales.

Under the New Role, Ms Crompton Will Lead Virgin’s Do-mestic and Global Sales Growth, Overseeing All Corporate, Gov-ernment, Industry and Leisure Sales, Including Ecommerce, Blue Holidays and Call Centres, Covering Both Virgin’s Domestic and International Networks.

Ms Crompton Was Most Recently Head of Global Corporate Sales for Etihad Airways and Also Previously Worked With Qantas, Flight Centre and Tq3 Navigant.

She Will Commence in the Role From August 1 and Will Report Directly to Ceo John Borghetti. Larly Encounter Thunderstorms and Divert Around Storm Cells to Try and Minimise the Effects of Turbulence, but Dr Lane Says That Guidelines on Safe Distances Written Many Years Ago May Need to Be Rewritten in Light of the Greater Under-standing of How the Storms Can Affect Conditions Further Away.

“it is Time to Alter Air Turbulence Guidelines in Light of This Knowledge and Employ New Technologies to Forecast Where It is Likely to Occur to Improve Air Safety for All Air Travellers,” He Said.

Pilots Urged to Report Wirestrikes the Atsb Has Called on Pilots to Report Wirestrike Incidents After a Recent Report Showed That There Were Around 100 Incidents Which Were Not Reported Between 2003 and 2011.

In Its Study on Reporting of Wirestrike Incidents, the Atsb Found That Over the Nine Year Period Nearly 40 Per Cent of Wirestrikes Were Not Reported as is Required Under the Trans-port Safety Investigation Act.

“we Need to Be Told When Things Go Wrong, So That We Can Examine What Hap-pened and See What Needs to Be Done to Improve Future Safety,” Said Chief Commis-sioner Martin Dolan.

Wirestrikes Occur When an Aircraft Operating at Low Level Flies Into a Powerline or Cable.

The Atsb Says That It Will Engage in a Wide Range of Activities to Increase Aware-ness of the Importance of Reporting Wirestrikes.

People

Crompton to Head Virgin Sales

Virgin Australia Has an-nounced That Judith Crompton Has Been Appointed to the New Role of Group Executive Sales.

Under the New Role, Ms Crompton Will Lead Virgin’s Do-mestic and Global Sales Growth, Overseeing All Corporate, Gov-ernment, Industry and Leisure Sales, Including Ecommerce, Blue Holidays and Call Centres, Covering Both Virgin’s Domestic and International Networks.

Ms Crompton Was Most Recently Head of Global Corporate Sales for Etihad Airways and Also Previously Worked With Qantas, Flight Centre and Tq3 Navigant.

She Will Commence in the Role From August 1 and Will Report Directly to Ceo John Borghetti.

Events

Nominations Open for National Aerospace Innovation Awards

Nominations Have Opened for the Inaugural National Aerospace Innovation Awards, Which Will Be Presented at Next Year’s Australian Inter-national Airshow at Avalon.

Six Awards Will Be Presented in the Following Categories: Defence Industry National in-novation Award, Civil Industry National Innovation Award, Defence Industry Sme in-novation Grant, Civil Industry Sme Innovation Grant, Schol-arship for Defence Industry Innovation, Scholarship for Civil Industry Innovation.

Eligible Smes Stand to Win a $10,000 Innovation Grant While Individual Innovators Stand to Win a $10,000 Innova-tion Scholarship. The Winners of the Major Defence and Civil Innovators Categories Will Be Presented With Trophies. The Awards Have Been Developed by Aerospace Australia, Which is the Organiser of the Austral-ian International Airshow.

Nominations for the Awards Will Close on Sep-tember 30, With a Shortlist of Nominees to Be Drawn Up by the End of October. For More Information About the Awards, Go to Www. Airshow. Com. Au/innovation‐awards.

The Airshow Will Be Held From February 26-march 3 2013 at Avalon Airport.

Safeskies on Again in October 2013

the Next Safeskies Confer-ence Will Be Held in Canberra on October 16-17 2013.

The Conference, Which is Aimed at Promoting Aviation Safety, Attracts Delegates From Across the Aviation Industry and Has the Support of Organisa-tions Such as Casa, Airser-vices, the Defence Depart-ment, Qantas and Raytheon.

The Last Safeskies Confer-ence Was Held in October 2011.

Aviation Careers Expo on August 25

Aviation Australia Will Once Again Host the Aviation Careers Expo at Its Facilities in the Brisbane Airport Precinct on Saturday August 25.

Now in Its 12th Year, the Expo Will Bring Together Leading Avia-tion Industry Players and High-light Potential Career Opportu-nities in the Industry.