Preflight

NZ103 departed Auckland at 09:25 local time, and despite fog at Sydney Airport earlier in the morning which caused widespread delays and diversions, ZK-NZE was able to land essentially on time on Sydney’s Runway 34R at 10:30 local. Onboard were 238 passengers along with three flightcrew and 14 cabin crew (additional crew were carried due to training requirements).

“We’re really pleased with the first flight and received a lot of positive feedback from both passengers and crew,” Air New Zealand’s director for aircraft programs, Kerry Reeves, told Australian Aviation via email.

The aircraft subsequently continued to regularly operate NZ103/NZ104 services, while from September it will also begin operating to Perth, ahead of the formal official launch of Perth services from October 15.

“The reliability has been exceptional since the commencement of commercial services and the aircraft is performing exactly as we expected,” Reeves said.

Air New Zealand is configuring its 787-9s with 302 seats (18 Business Premier, 21 premium economy and 263 economy clas seats), and customer feedback to date has been “very positive”. Said Reeves: “Customers have specifically commented on the feeling of a sense of openness and light from the windows, comfort in the cabin both in the seating and the air-conditioning and also our new inflight entertainment system. ” Between arriving in Auckland on July 11 and operating its first revenue flights on August 9, ZK‑NZE operated training and proving flights to Sydney on July 25, RNZAF Base Ohakea (Air New Zealand’s designated alternate to Auckland) on July 28 andChristchurch on July 30.

Air New Zealand has 10 787-9s on order, with the second, ZK-NZF, due for delivery in late September.

The delivery of a third aircraft will allow the 787 to operate services to Shanghai and Tokyo by the end of the year.

While the Kiwi flag carrier was the first airline to take delivery of the 787-9 it was pipped at the post for the honour of operating the world’s first 787-9 service, after ANA placed its first -9 (JA830A) into service between Tokyo Haneda and Fukuoka on August 7. The Japanese carrier had taken delivery of its first 787 only days earlier on July 29, but as the launch customer for the 787-8, and with 29 in service by the end of July, had the experience to be able to quickly introduce the -9 into service.

“The 787 Dreamliner is a key element in our growth strategy and we are proud to be the first airline to fly both models of the 787 family,” ANA chief executive Osamu Shinobe said.

All Nippon Airways currently has 80 787s on order (36 -8s and 44 -9s).

More support for Badgerys Creek

Tigerair, AIPA support second Sydney airport

Tigerair Australia chief executive Rob Sharp believes there is enough demand in Western Sydney for the proposed airport at Badgerys Creek and the low-cost carrier is keen to fly there.

Sharp says Tigerair supports a second airport being built in Sydney.

“At the end of the day it is not the airport that attracts us, it is the underlying demand,” Sharp told the CAPA Australia Pacific aviation summit in Sydney.

“We believe there is actually quite a strong demand in the western parts of Sydney and there is growth there.

“It makes sense ultimately to have an airport there and we will support that and we will fly to that demand. ” Jetstar Australia and New Zealand chief executive David Hall said the budget airline was a fan of secondary airports, given it operated to Avalon just outside Geelong in Victoria as well as the Gold Coast in south-east Queensland.

Hall said Jetstar was evaluating what role Badgerys Creek might play in the airline’s Australian network.

“I think it offers a value proposition and once we work through about the size and so forth we will look at what is best for our customer base,” Hall said.

The head of the Qantas pilots union also voiced his support for Badgerys Creek, saying airlines needed to be supported by adequate infrastructure to give them the best chance of profitability. Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) president Nathan Safe said not only would the proposed new airport at Badgerys Creek create jobs in Western Sydney, it would also boost the performance of all airlines.

“Pretending that the existing Sydney Airport infrastructure is going to give Qantas and Virgin, and the foreign airlines, the best chance of being profitable is just pie-in-the-sky stuff,” Safe said.

Safe said those planning the proposed runway and terminal needed to learn from the lessons of the past.

Moreover, the airport had to be built to take advantage of the latest satellite-based GNSS technology, such as curved approach and departure flightpaths and precision guidance approaches allowing landings in virtually zero visibility conditions.

Safe said those who questioned the need for a second airport in the Sydney basin only had to experience the growing frustration of being a pilot flying in and out of Kingsford Smith.

“Every time I fly an aeroplane into Sydney Airport I need to have 20 minutes’ worth of fuel extra just because it has a traffic flow problem,” he said.

“That is a 24 hours a day requirement and that is higher than any other airport in Australia other than Brisbane which has finally got its act together and is building a parallel runway. ” Safe said the government cap of 80 aircraft movements an hour was a “complete anachronism”, while noise sharing rules mean only one of the three available runways could be used at certain times.

“What is the environmental impact of having to slow down and enter holding patterns and burn two tonnes extra of jet fuel because there is no capacity to land at Sydney Airport?” Safe commented.

Royal Brunei to consider new Australian routes with A320neo

Royal Brunei Airlines says the Airbus A320neo aircraft will potentially open up new routes into Australia

The airline, which currently flies daily to Melbourne from its Bandar Seri Begawan hub, has seven A320neo aircraft on firm order, with options for three more.

Royal Brunei chief commercial and planning officer Karam Chand said while the Australian market was looking a bit soft currently, he expressed confidence there would be an eventual pickup in demand that could support additional Australian flights.

Chand says the A320neo would offer an estimated 17 per cent reduction in fuel consumption compared to current generation A320 aircraft.

That fuel saving could allowRoyal Brunei to return to cities such as Brisbane, Perth and Darwin with a narrowbody aircraft.

“What it does is it gives us another avenue, a low-cost, lowrisk avenue, to use a narrowbody aircraft to Australia – Brisbane, Perth, Darwin – as opposed to using a widebody,” Chand said in an interview on the sidelines of the CAPA Australia Pacific aviation summit in Sydney.

“A widebody comes with a huge increase in cost so if you don’t get the revenue to go with that cost, that is a very risky proposition.

We’ve got to time it properly to make sure we come at the right time. karam chand

“We’ve got to time it properly to make sure we come at the right time. ” First delivery of the A320neo in Royal Brunei colours was due in 2018.

Bandar Seri Begawan to Brisbane was 5,444 kilometres, while it was 4,083 kilometres to Perth and 2,608 kilometres to Darwin, according to the Great Circle Mapper.

The Airbus A320neo with 150 seats in a two-class configuration has a range of 6,150 kilometres, according to the Airbus website.

The airline’s current batch of four A320s have 144 seats, with 12 in business and 132 in economy, while its two A319s have 122 seats.

And for long-haul flights, Royal Brunei uses four Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners with 254 seats.

Chand said the 787s had achieved a 25 per cent fuel saving compared with the Boeing 777-200 used previously to serve Melbourne, and London via Dubai, from Bandar Seri Begawan.

“If you look at a round trip between Melbourne and London, you are saving about 100,000 litres of fuel,” Chand said.

“It is a very sizeable cost so anything we can do to reduce fuel is welcome. The aircraft has gone very well for us. ” Passenger loads from Melbourne have been pleasing, with a majority of those passengers connecting through to Dubai and London, Chand said.

Ticket sales for points beyond London Heathrow and Melbourne were given a boost when Royal Brunei retimed its flights with an evening departure at both ends.

Moreover, Royal Brunei had interline agreements in place with British Airways for points in Europe beyond London and Virgin Australia for onward connections to other parts of Australia.

Protectionism starting to emerge – Mrdak

There are concerns a growing number of nations may be returning to a more protectionist stance on air traffic rights, leaving Australia isolated as one of the most open places for foreign carriers to fly to in the world.

Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development secretary Mike Mrdak says opening up Australia to overseas airlines has been of great benefit to the national economy, with passenger traffic and aircraft movements trebling since 1992. However, many foreign governments are not sharing Australia’s enthusiasm for more open access.

“The international trend is actually away from liberalised open markets,”Mrdak told the CAPA Australia Pacific aviation summit in Sydney.

“In Europe and in North America, governments are looking to wind back past liberalisation measures by imposing new regulations and socalled fair competition. ” “I think we are in a dangerous period. ” About half of all international passengers to and from this country had come from nations that had an open skies agreement with Australia, highlighting this country’s liberal market credentials, Mrdak said.

However, the Department faced a lot of difficulties negotiating bilateral agreements with a number of countries, including Hong Kong and the nations of Europe. He said an Australian proposal for a singleagreement between Australia and all of Europe had been on the table for the past five years but was not being pursued.

“I am worried that every time we talk to European officials they keep coming back with terms such as fair competition, they seize on things like food miles and other arguments about why we should be more cautious about opening markets,” Mrdak said.

“Which to me is really just pushing a protectionist position. ” Mrdak said Australian airlines have been forced to operate to and beyond Hong Kong under some very onerous restrictions in the past.

“Hong Kong remains one of the most protectionist regimes in the region, if not globally,” Mrdak said.

Cebu Pacific keen to expand in Australia

Low-cost airline Cebu Pacific Air hopes to be able to expand in the Australian market once the cap on available capacity between Australia and the Philippines is lifted.

The budget airline is scheduled to start flying between Manila and Sydney from September with four flights a week on Airbus A330-300 aircraft configured with 436 alleconomy class seats.

A fifth weekly service starts in December, and Cebu Pacific general manager for long-haul Alex Reyes says the airline will eventually go daily on the route.

However, further expansion to Sydney or the other three major Australian ports – Perth, Brisbane or Melbourne – are on hold as Philippine carriers have used up all 6,000 available seats per week intothose four gateways.

Reyes said the Philippine government supported a lifting of the cap and initial efforts looked promising.

“It’s been received favourably,” Reyes said.

Reyes noted that while the Philippines- Australia air services agreement had just 6,000 seats, the figure was about 38,000 for Malaysia and more than 28,000 for Thailand.

Reyes said there has been a very strong response from travellers, particularly Australians wanting to visit the Philippines and Cebu Pacific was keen to grow Australia- Philippines traffic.

“What we always say is if we enter a market and all we do is takemarketshare away from incumbents, then we should not be in that market,” Reyes said.

Cebu Pacific currently flies four A330s, with one more due to arrive in August and another in the first three months of 2015.

Despite the eyewateringly high seat count of 436 on the A330, Reyes said passenger feedback had so far been positive on the new slimline seats used on the aircraft.

The aircraft was equipped with WiFi internet on board, and the airline is trialling inflight entertainment delivered via WiFi to personal devices.

Philippine Airlines and Qantas are the other two competitors on the Sydney-Manila route.

NZ govt authorises Air NZ-SQ alliance

New Zealand Minister of Transport Gerry Brownlee has given the go-ahead to a planned alliance between Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines, the final regulatory hurdle for a deal which already had Competition Commission of Singapore approval.

“Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines have committed to offering 30 per cent more seats every week between Auckland and Singapore.

This will more than compensate for capacity lost when Jetstar withdrew from the route, and ensure the availability of low fares,” Brownlee said in announcing his approval.

Under the alliance the existing daily Singapore Airlines 777‑300ER Singapore-Auckland service will be upgraded to A380s from October 27 for the northern winter scheduling period.

Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines’ second, five-times-weekly Auckland 777-200ER flights will be replaced by a daily Air NZ 777-200ER service.

“It’s very pleasing to receive regulatory approval for this alliance which will enable us to grow our network with operations between Auckland and Singapore in the very near future,” Air NZ chief executive Christopher Luxon said.

The two airlines will codeshare on each other’s services between Singapore and New Zealand.

Moreover, Air NZ will place its NZ airline code on Singapore Airlines flights to the UK, Europe, South-East Asia and Africa and SilkAir regional Asia flights.

Singapore Airlines will add its SQ code across Air NZ’s domestic network and select international destinations.

Air New Zealand has not flown to Singapore since 2006, and currently serves the city-state via Brisbane under an interline agreement with Etihad Airways. Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines are both members of the Star Alliance, and are both shareholders in, and, separately, alliance codeshare partners with, Virgin Australia.

Cathay boosts capacity to Australia

Cathay Pacific will add more than 1,300 extra seats a week between Hong Kong and Sydney when it runs one of its four daily services with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

The 777 replaces the smaller Airbus A330‑300 three days a week from December 1, and will be daily from February 15.

“We’ve seen very high passenger numbers throughout Australia and on our Sydney flights in particular this year and are therefore responding to the very solid demand by increasing capacity on a key flight,” Cathay southwest Pacific manager Nelson Chin said.

The move to a daily service will come just before Chinese New Year, which falls on February 19 next year.

The aircraft change would add about 580 seats a week from December, rising to 1,370 more seats a week between Sydney and Hong Kong when the 777 goes daily, Cathay said.

Separately, Cathay Pacific is adding more seats on the A330s that it flies to Australia, through replacing some premium economy seats with economy seats.

Pilatus rolls out PC-24

Pilatus’s latest Swiss army knife

Pilatus has marked its 75th anniversary in style by rolling out its first-ever jet, the Pilatus PC-24, at a ceremony at its Stans facilities.

The rollout of the PC-24, towed behind 24 horses, was the highlight of an event that featured 120 performers and flying displays from various Pilatus aircraft and that also marked Swiss National Day.

“Today’s celebration is a clear sign of our commitment to Switzerland as a centre of vision and action. We have seen our activities grow and expand here in Stans, and this is where we want to be in the future: in Stans, producing our aircraft for sale to customers around the world,” Pilatus chairman Oscar Schwenk said.

Pilatus says the PC-24 is the first business jet offered with a cargo door as standard, and it has been designed with the ability to use short and unpaved runways.

Powered by two Williams FJ44‑4A turbines, maximum speed is 425kt with a maximum range with four passengers of 1,950nm (3,610km).

PC-24 cabin interior options include six to eight passenger executive layouts, a commuter setup with seating for up to 10, combi versions with space for passengers and cargo, and special mission variants such as an air ambulance.

First flight was planned for the northern spring of 2015. Three PC‑24 prototypes are being built for the flight test program and certification, and customer deliveries are planned for 2017.

Pilatus says it took 84 PC-24 orders at the European Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition in May, and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (Western Operations) has three on order.

Ryan Campbell joins Aeromil Pacific

‘Teen World Flight’ adventurer Ryan Campbell has been given an opportunity to professionally develop his love of aviation through a sponsorship opportunity with Aeromil Pacific.

Campbell, who last year circumnavigated the globe solo in a Cirrus SR22 at age 19, becoming the youngest pilot to do so, has been offered the opportunity by Aeromil managing director Steve Padgett.

“Ryan has an undeniable love of aviation and spirit of adventure and this is very clear to all those who meet him,” Padgett said.

“I think his work to inspire young Australians to follow their dreams and bring fresh new enthusiasm to aviation is a something that needs to be encouraged. Ryan will be working with the Aeromil Pacific team as a young ambassador at large, promoting all things aviation. ”

Mahindra re-brands Airvan designations

With the GippsAero brand now all but gone in favour of Mahindra Aerospace, the company has rebranded its GA8 and GA10 Airvans as the Airvan 8 and Airvan 10.

The rebranding has also seen the company adopt new logos for the two aircraft which it says is representative of Mahindra’s branding.

“The new logo and naming convention is closely aligned to Mahindra’s brand identity,” executive director and global CEO of Mahindra Aerospace, Arvind Mehra said. “The new identity combines the Airvan name with the numbers 8 and 10 signifying seat capacity. ”

FIFO demand still healthy

Growth pause an “opportunity”

While there has been a bit of a drop off in mining of late, there is still plenty of activity that will support fly-in/fly-out operators industry players say.

The changes in the resources industry has been described as a construction sunset and production sunrise. However, with a number of new projects still in the pipeline, there are many reasons to think activity will remain high in the period ahead.

“What we have seen come off is the frenzy of investment,” the general manager of aircraft charter company Adagold Jeff Eager said at the CAPA Australia Pacific aviation summit in Sydney.

“It is only the trajectory that has changed in our view. It is certainly going to come back.

“The world’s insatiable appetite for energy is going to make sure we dig everything up. ” The Adani mining project in Central Queensland, as well as BHP’s Olympic Dam at South Australia’s Roxby Downs, were just two projects that required huge movements of people into and out of remote centres.

Network Aviation chief executive Hugh Davin said all of the large iron ore miners in Australia were targeting record production rates.

“This increase in virtually all of the large mining companies going for record production numbers – unheard of numbers before – is actually having a flow-on effect into the air services demand,” Davin said.

Cobham Aviation Services general manager of regional services Ryan Both said the current “pause” was an opportunity for fly-in/fly-out operators to go through a period of consolidation.

QAL Services chief operating officer Craig Shaw said while coal seemed to be struggling a bit, gas was still booming.

QAL Services is part of Queensland Airports Ltd, the owner and operator of a number of regional airports in Queensland.

New aviation hub to help local aerospace industry tap into global supply chain

Australia should have a greater slice of the global aerospace market and a new body is set to give local manufacturers a hand finding their place in the $50 billion industry.

The META National Commercial Aerospace Hub brings together manufacturing businesses and researchers, along with Aviation/ Aerospace Australia, and will hope to increase Australia’s share of the $50 billion global industry for metal aviation components from $200 million currently.

While the two big commercial aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus are undoubtedly important, as are the major makers of military aircraft such as Lockheed Martin, Aviation/Aerospace Australia deputy chairman Paul Fox says emerging programs such as COMAC in China also offer opportunities.

Fox, who will be the industry facilitator of the hub, says Australian manufacturers have the right skills, abilities and regulatory standards to capitalise on the aviation sector.

“Our manufacturers have a strong ability to innovate, solve complex problems and provide solutions for this burgeoning market,” Fox said.

Australia had about 800 companies in the aerospace sector generating annual turnover of about $4 billion, figures presented at the launch of the hub at the CAPA Australia Pacific aviation summit in Sydney showed.

META managing director Zoran Angelkovski said the hub would help companies identify opportunities within the global aviation supply chain.

“The hub is not a talkfest,” Angelkovski said at the launch.

META was a network of manufacturers and researchers working together to help firms become more globally competitive.

Angelkovski said although Australia had high-cost base, it was no barrier to success on the global stage, pointing to the likes of Germany and Switzerland which had found their place in the global aerospace industry.

Moreover, a collaborative forum or platform for manufacturers to find the right opportunities in the aviation sector may help open new jobs for skilled workers in Australia’s declining car-making sector.

Or it could help some firms diversify.

Cobham wins four-year FIFO contract

Cobham Aviation Services will fly Arvo RJ85 jets to West Australian mining sites as part of a new four-year fly-in/flyout contract with Gold Fields Australia.

The contract involves flying the 82-seat jet aircraft equipped with what Cobham says is gravel kit capability to Gold Fields Australia’s mines at Granny Smith and Darlot, both situated about 720km northeast of Perth.

Cobham said the jets would be capable of operating to gravel runways, making the company the only aviation services provider in Australia using jet aircraft to gravel runways.

Cobham general manager of regional services Ryan Both said the jet aircraft allowed mining companies to move more people faster using fewer services.

Gold Fields Australia executive vice president Richard Weston said the use of jet aircraft to its mining sites – four return services a week to Granny Smith and two to Darlot – would “increase efficiencies as it enables us to consolidate our FIFO schedule and still travel direct to our sites with gravel runways”.

Bombardier launches combi Q400

Bombardier has used the Farnborough Airshow to launch a new cargo-passenger combi configuration of its Q400 NextGen regional turboprop airliner.

The company said the cargo-passenger combi Q400 is available in various configurations, including one which offers a combination of up to 4,000kg of cargo capacity and 50 passengers with 32in (81cm) pitch seats.

Hawaiian keen to forge closer ties with Virgin

Hawaiian Airlines chief executive Mark Dunkerley says he is open to working more closely with Virgin Australia to grow the local market for travel to Hawaii.

In addition to a frequent flyer agreement between the two carriers, Virgin has placed its VA airline code on Hawaiian’s services out of Sydney and Brisbane to Honolulu and the two carriers offer access to points beyond their respective gateways.

Dunkerley says Virgin provided feed to its Australian services and both airlines have been quite effective at selling connecting itineraries through an interline agreement.

“I think we are always interested in working more closely with Virgin Australia,” Dunkerley said in an interview on the sidelines of the CAPA Australia Pacific aviation summit in Sydney.

“We have a good relationship with them and we do talk to them periodically. ” While the feed from Virgin’s domestic network “certainly doesn’t represent the majority of the people on the airplane,” the Australian carrier made a “tremendously important contribution”, Dunkerley said.

Flying a mixture of Boeing 767‑300ER and Airbus A330‑200 aircraft, Hawaiian recently celebrated 10 years of flying to Australia. ItLittle changes in the numbers have big consequences.

mark dunkerleycompetes with Qantas and Jetstar on the Sydney-Honolulu route and Air New Zealand on Auckland- Honolulu. Hawaiian is the only carrier currently flying between Brisbane and Honolulu (Jetstar has announced plans to enter that route from December), while Jetstar has a monopoly on the Melbourne- Honolulu route.

In July, Hawaiian swapped its order for six Airbus A350-800s for six A330‑800neos. As part of the renegotiated order, Hawaiian is now due to take delivery of its first A330neo in 2019, compared with2017 for the A350. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Hawaiian said in July the new deal would lower the airline’s capital commitments by $US500 million between now and the end of 2018.

Dunkerley said the launch of the A330neo gave the airline an opportunity to look at its fleet requirements “with a blank sheet of paper all over again”, given the A350 order was placed in 2007.

“This wasn’t a case of us calling them, it was a case of them calling us,” he said.

When all factors were consideredand after negotiations with Airbus that Dunkerley described as intense, it was decided to change the order.

“Little changes in the numbers have big consequences,” said Dunkerley.

“There was lots of late nights losing sleep and burning candles at both ends to try and get the right deal. ” Dunkerley said the A330neo had about two-thirds the fuel efficiency gains of the A350, compared with similar current generation aircraft, and the capability to do most of the things the A350 would have done in Hawaiian colours.

Qantas adds extra seats on 737s as part of refresh

More seats but the same legroom for Qantas 737s

Qantas will squeeze an extra row of seats into its Boeing 737-800 aircraft as part of a refurbishment of the domestic narrowbody workhorse.

The addition of six extra economy seats increases the seat count from 168 currently – 12 business and 156 economy – to 174 seats.

By way of comparison, Virgin Australia’s 737-800s have eight business class and 168 economy class seats for a total of 176. Qantas domestic chief executive Lyell Strambi said adding extra seats will improve the operating economics of the 737.

“This change represents a three per cent increase to the capacity of Qantas’s B737 fleet,” Strambi said.

“Six extra seats per aircraft across a total fleet of 71 737s is the equivalent of adding an extra 2. 4 737s to the fleet. ” Qantas currently has 67 737‑800s, with a further four factory-freshexamples to join the fleet by December.

Further, some 38 737s which currently do not have individual seatback screens will have wireless technology installed to allow passengers to watch television programs and movies on their own devices.

“Pending approval from Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority, customers will be able to use their portable electronic devices in flight mode throughout the entire flight,” Strambi said.

And all 67 aircraft will be “refreshed” with new seat covers and interiors to improve the inflight experience of passengers.

Space for the extra row of seats will come from a reorganisation of the rear galley, as well as a newer “slimline” lavatory, Qantas said. Customers were not expected to notice any difference when using the facilities.

Work on the 737s, which Qantas said was a “multi-million dollar investment”, was due to start in mid-2015 and take 12 months to complete.

Airbus Group Australia Pacific established in Canberra

The various brands formerly represented under the EADS Australia Pacific umbrella have been re-aligned to form Airbus Group Australia Pacific.

The restructure was announced in Canberra at the opening of the Group’s new headquarters at Brindabella Park by Defence Minister Senator David Johnston on July 16. Also announced was the appointment of former Australian Aerospace CEO Dr Jens Goennemann as the group’s inaugural managing director.

The rebranding follows EADS Group’s rebranding as Airbus Group in 2013, subsidiary Eurocopter’s change to Airbus Helicopters, and Airbus Military’s change to Airbus Defence and Space, all of which the new Australian operation will now represent.

“Across the world, the move to Airbus Group strengthens our position in the market. Airbus is a strong brand name and we now have a unified corporate name in commercial aircraft, helicopters, defence and space – that also represents the three divisions of the Airbus Group – trading on Airbus’s brand recognition of quality, innovation and reliability,” Dr Goennemann said.

“Airbus Group Australia Pacific seeks to grow the business within the region where we have identified a range of opportunities to expand our portfolio of products,” he added.

“As the local industrial footprint representing Airbus Group, Airbus Helicopters and Airbus Defence and Space in the region, we seek to further partner with the defence forces of Australia, New Zealand and nations of the South Pacific. ”

Qantas staff know of need to change amid job losses

Qantas chief financial officer Gareth Evans says unions and staff have understood the enormity of the challenge facing the airline as it seeks to return to profitability.

The Flying Kangaroo is partway through a multi-billion dollar cost reduction program as it retires older aircraft, tweaks its network and sheds 5,000 jobs.

Even the unions representing Qantas staff, some of which have had a prickly relationship with the airline’s management in recent times, seem to be on board, Evans said.

“Everybody in the organisation knows there’s a requirement to change,” Evans told the CAPA Australia Pacific aviation summit in Sydney.

“And therefore resistance, passive resistance, pro-active resistance to that change that may have been there in the past for various reasons isn’t there to anything like the same degree.

“We are seeing a significant degree of collaboration because people do understand the necessity of what we are trying to achieve. ” Proof of the staff engagement has come in the form of record customer satisfaction and on-time performance during this period of change, Evans said.

Defence releases draft F-35A environment impact statement

Runway extension for RAAF Williamtown?

Defence has released the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the flying operations of the new F-35A Lightning II fighter which is due to enter service in Australia from 2018.

The EIS covers extensive noise mapping for flying operations of the new aircraft at RAAF Bases Williamtown and Tindal, and the support bases at Townsville, Darwin and the northern bare bases of Sherger, Curtin and Learmonth.

It also covers flying operations around the training range at Salt Ash just north of Williamtown.

One key proposal is for the extension or duplication of the single runway at Williamtown.

Defence is considering three options: to extend the current 2,450m runway to 3,050m either by extending the runway at both ends; by moving it about a kilometre to the south-east and extending it along the same alignment; or by adding a shorter parallel runway to the northeast of the current runway.

Moving the runway to the southeast will go some way towards mitigating anticipated noise issues around the town of Raymond Terrace to the base’s north-west, while extending its length will allow the F-35 to operate from the runway using reduced power settings, but may require an extensiverealignment of Nelson Bay and Medowie Roads.

“These documents represent the most comprehensive environmental study ever undertaken by Defence and demonstrates Air Force’s commitment to transparency with the Australian community about Air Force operations, including aircraft noise,” Commander Air Combat Group AIRCDRE Tony Grady said.

Public submissions were due by September 19.

Separately, new basing and other facilities required for the RAAF’s planned fleet of 72 F-35A fighters at RAAF base Williamtown and other locations have been referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works for approval.

A release from Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence Darren Chester says the new works to be conducted under the New Air Combat Capability Facilities Project are required to support the introduction of the F-35A.

“This project will provide new and upgraded facilities and infrastructure at RAAF Bases Williamtown, Tindal, Townsville, Darwin, Curtin, Scherger, Learmonth, Pearce and Edinburgh, and Defence Establishment Myambat (near Singleton, NSW),” Chester said. “The project will provide 3 Squadron, 2 Operational Conversion Unit and 77 Squadron at RAAF Base Williamtown, and 75 Squadron at RAAF Base Tindal with the facilities they need to train, operate and maintain the F-35A aircraft. ” Subject to Parliamentary approval of the project, construction is expected to begin in 2015 and be completed by 2022. Australia’s first F-35As are scheduled to be brought back to Australia for operational evaluation in 2018, and an initial operational capability is scheduled for 2020.

Virgin drops LA-MEL

Virgin Australia is dropping its direct Los Angeles-Melbourne services and will instead increase its four services a week between LAX and Brisbane to daily.

The airline will cease its Melbourne services on October 25, and will start the daily Brisbane flight the next day. Perhaps not coincidentally, United Airlines is commencing direct flights six times a week between Los Angeles and Melbourne with Boeing 787-9 aircraft on October 26.

“The changes announced today are a result of extensive market analysis,” Virgin chief commercial officer Judith Crompton said.

The airline will also make a minor change to the departure times of its Sydney and LA services.

Tigerair, Sydney Airport resolve dispute

Tigerair Australia says it has withdrawn its legal challenge against Sydney Airport after the two parties reached a new agreement on the low-cost carrier’s access to infrastructure at the airport.

In July, Tigerair took Sydney Airport to the National Competition Council (NCC) seeking increased access to terminal gates, check-in counters and kiosks at Terminal 2.

Since its application to the NCC, Tigerair and Sydney Airport have been in “in-depth commercial discussions” that Tigerair chief executive Rob Sharp said achieved a successful resolution that offered “good outcomes for all parties involved”.