Preflight

“We’re getting close, 99 per cent of the paperwork is contract ready, that means we’re getting very close,” Sir Angus told members of the Senate Rural & Regional Affairs Transport Legislation Committee on August 9.

Some risk mitigation work for OneSky has already been undertaken under advance supply contracts, but finalising the main acquisition contract has been delayed while Airservices and Thales agree to terms, especially in the light of a recent Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) audit which raised concerns about the tender evaluation process’s ability to deliver value for money on the near billion dollar project.

But Sir Angus told the committee that Defence is close to seeking government approval for its share of the program from the National Security Committee (NSC) of Cabinet.

“Right now we are about 99 per cent ready to go into contract on our side, we just need to finalise the arrangements with Defence after they’ve been through [the NSC approval process],” Sir Angus said. However, the Airservices chair did indicate that Defence’s share of the OneSky project is likely to be greater than a previously agreed “not to exceed” price of $244 million.

“We’re at a stage where Defence are going back to the National Security Committee of Cabinet for a final approval on the project with some form of cost increase,” he said.

Airservices has not publicly put an exact number on the value of its own share of the OneSky program. However, the organisation’s new five-year corporate plan said “OneSKY and its enabling projects account for $652 million” in capital expenditure over the next five financial years, through to the end of 2021-22.

“Much of the delay in finalising this contract is because the board will not sign a contract until such time that it is satisfied that we can protect Airservices commercially under these arrangements,” Tim Rothwell, Airservices board member and chair of the board’s audit and risk committee, told the Senate committee.

Another of the ANAO report’s criticisms was that the Airservices business case for OneSky had not been reviewed or updated since January 2011.

“The latest cost estimates have been included in Airservices’ corporate plans, including the one tabled yesterday, so it’s not as if the cost estimates were unknown, but the final business case will be provided to the board as part of the approval process, hopefully towards the end of this year when we do hopefully contract to get this project underway,” Rothwell said.

Fellow Airservices board member David Marchant, chair of the board’s technology committee, told the Senate committee Airservices had moved to an open book process as part of contract negotiations to ensure value for money.

“We’ve stopped going to contract until we’ve got the definition and the design absolutely right and it’s absolutely in agreement with Defence and ourselves,” he said.

“Secondly, we’ve moved to a full ‘open book’ process for every cost, for every activity and are going through and assessing those against that design criteria, so we don’t have to go retrospectively back [to make changes once contracts have been signed].

“And the reason for the comment about the business case and the rest is that until that’s concluded and the risks and contingencies all through those things are put out in the open and mitigated down, that’s when we’ll get to a final cost and a final risk and a final mitigation.”

Open book contract management is an arrangement favoured in government procurements in the United Kingdom. It allows “the scrutiny of a supplier’s costs and margins through the reporting of, or accessing, accounting data,” according to the UK’s Crown Commercial Service.

“This transparency allows both parties to be clear on the supplier’s charges, costs, and planned return. It also provides a basis to be able to review performance, agree the impact of change and to bring forward ideas for efficiency improvements.”

Meanwhile, Airservices’ five-year corporate plan said its “Accelerate” restructuring program would deliver real cost reductions to its aviation industry customers across the next five years.

The plan projects that despite only modest increases in Airservices’ revenues over the fiveyear period, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) will rebound strongly to over $100 million from 2017-18 onwards.

“The plan embeds the cost savings delivered through our new operating model, enables real price reductions of around 10 per cent to be delivered to industry over the next five years, and funds key investment programs to deliver important safety and service improvements,” reads the corporate plan.

“Today our prices are the same as they were in July 2015. Reflecting the delivery of a more efficient operating cost base through our new operating model, this plan maintains weighted average prices at existing rates, delivering our customers real price decreases and improved service value through to 2021-22.”

Under Accelerate Airservices’ workforce was to be cut from 4,500 to 3,600.

Australian SBAS project “well and truly underway”

Augmented GNSS promises 5-10cm accuracy

An Australian project to develop a space-based augmentation system (SBAS) that promises navigational accuracy to less than 10 centimetres is “well underway”, according to Lockheed Martin, one of three industry participants in a two-year Australian Government-led trial.

“We are undertaking a two-year testbed that will dramatically improve the accuracy of navigation systems. That program started in February, it is well and truly underway,” Rod Drury, Lockheed Martin Australia’s managing director for space, told media in Canberra in late July.

The two-year, $12 million project to develop a “second generation” SBAS in Australia was announced in February 2017 and involves industry participation from Lockheed Martin, GMV of Spain and Inmarsat. Led by Geoscience Australia, the project has also received New Zealand Government funding, while other countries in the region have shown strong interest in participating in the trial.

“The project was initially sponsored by the Australian Government, with Geoscience Australia the lead agency, while the New Zealand Government has also joined the demonstration program,” Drury said.

“And I can share with you that we are currently engaged with a number of other countries in the region.”

Under the trial GMV has installed an SBAS testbed master station, which collects data from Geoscience Australia-operated reference stations and generates augmentation messages that correct the accuracy of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positional information.

That data is then sent via a Lockheed Martin uplink antenna at Uralla, New South Wales, to an Inmarsat geostationary earth orbit satellite. A receiver on a ground-based vehicle or aircraft then processes that corrected positional information.

Drury noted that without augmentation GNSS systems such as the US GPS constellation and the European Gallileo system offers navigational accuracy of around 10 metres in the horizontal plane.

“We’ve taken that accuracy from 10 metres down to a metre or two, and ultimately the horizontal accuracy will end up in the range of centimetres, somewhere around five to 10 centimetre accuracy,” Drury said.

Accuracy in the vertical will be in the “same magnitude” but varies due to ionospheric conditions, Drury said, but “the closer you get to the equator the more challenge you have with the ionosphere”.

The promised accuracy of SBAS has a number of applications in aviation, and not just the promise of costeffective highly-accurate precision approaches for airports large and small, but also increasing airport capacity because “you can stack aircraft a lot closer because you have more confidence in the precision and the accuracy that they’re receiving,” Drury noted.

But Airservices Australia is just one of a number of Australian Government agencies observing the trial, with SBAS seen to have applications across the agriculture, construction, maritime, mining, road and rail industries.

“What’s been really exciting from my perspective is the number of small to medium enterprises in Australia that are taking advantage of that technological step and are generating apps or new capabilities as a result of it,” Drury noted.

“Some of the companies that are engaging with us are taking this in directions we hadn’t even thought of.”

In its mature form the system would comprise “probably two or three” purpose-built ground stations across Australia, and a master control station. The Australian-developed SBAS promises not only greater accuracy than existing SBAS applications – the US Wide Area Augmentation System (or WAAS) typically provides better than one metre accuracy – but is a technology that could be easily implemented worldwide.

“Things all working well, the program in two years goes to maturity and rolls out to production, then we would seek to take what’s currently a regional capability and roll that out around the globe,” Drury said. Different business models for using the SBAS are still being studied, Drury said..

Next eight RAAF F-35As on track for 2018 delivery

Australia’s next eight F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters are in production at prime contractor Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth final assembly plant ahead of delivery to the Commonwealth in 2018.

Australia is acquiring 72 F-35As to replace the RAAF’s F/A-18 ‘classic’ Hornets, the first two of which, known as AU-1 and AU-2, were handed over in late 2014 and have since been based at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona as part of the F-35 International Pilot Training Center – a brief visit to Australia for the Avalon Airshow earlier this year aside.

AU-1 and -2 are scheduled to be joined at Luke AFB by aircraft AU-3 through AU-10 in 2018.

“Matter of fact, talking to our program people, there is a chance we might actually deliver the first of those airplanes late this year,” Steve Over, Lockheed Martin’s director of F-35 international business development, told media in Canberra on July 31.

“The contract commitment is to do it in first quarter [of 2018].”

Then in December 2018 two F-35s are due to be delivered permanently to Australia, to begin Australian-specific operational test and evaluation.

F-35A AU-3 recently had its vertical tails installed, becoming the first Australian F-35 to feature vertical tails built by Australian company Marand. Melbournebased Marand is the second source of supply for about a third of the vertical tails for the F-35A, and a subcontractor to BAE Systems in the UK, which is the other source of supply.

Aircraft AU-3 through -10 are eight of the 90 F-35s currently being built under low-rate initial production (LRIP) lot 10, while a further eight RAAF F-35As will be built under LRIP 11. The next F-35 production batch will be for a total 141 F-35s – Over said the term “low-rate” is now something of a “misnomer” given the quantities involved – with initial funds for LRIP 11 released under two ‘undefinitised contract actions’ signed by the JSF Program Office (JPO) with Lockheed Martin earlier in July.

When final LRIP 11 contracts are signed by the end of the year, Over said Lockheed Martin expects the unit price of an F-35A to be “significantly below” the US$94.6 million “aggregate negotiated” price for an A-model built under LRIP 10.

“The production ramp up is here,” said Over. “And that’s reflected by the production numbers in lot 10 and lot 11.” LRIP 11 aircraft will be delivered in 2019.

Beyond that subsequent RAAF F-35As should be acquired as part of a “block buy” currently being negotiated by Lockheed Martin, the JPO and JSF partner nations. “Instead of a single annual contract the JPO will aggregate three years of orders and so right now the block buy that we’re pricing for proposal submission includes a total of 440 aircraft,” Over said.

“So a tremendous quantity of aeroplanes, something that not only do we get excited about but our supply chain gets excited about, because it creates that certainty of economic orders that allows us to drive for the absolute best prices from our supply chain.

“This is the one single action that we can collaboratively work together that will drive significant cost percentage out of the price of the airplane.”

Over said the block buy will be the “enabler” that will allow Lockheed Martin to meet its goal of a US$80-84 million price tag for an F-35A by 2020.

Meanwhile, to date the RAAF’s AU-1 and -2 have flown almost 1,100 flight hours in 700 sorties, Over said.

“They’re flying at about the utilisation rate that a mature weapon system like F-16s or F-18s are returning at. So the airplanes have really been performing remarkably well.”

Overall, 235 production F-35s have now been delivered, with aircraft operating from 12 bases.

Singapore to base F-15s in NZ?

Republic of Singapore Air Force F-15SG fighters could be based in New Zealand “longterm” for training, NZ Defence Minister Mark Mitchell has announced.

Singapore has asked the New Zealand Government “to consider accommodating F-15SG fighter jet training at Ohakea longterm”, a statement released by Minister Mitchell on August 2 reads.

“At the moment both countries are carrying out a range of studies to enable everyone to make an informed decision on a possible proposal,” Mitchell said in the statement.

“But we have similar values and it could be a good fit.”

And ahead of a possible basing of F-15s at Ohakea, the RSAF is sending six F-16D+ fighters to the former home of RNZAF fast jet operations for a four-week long training deployment from August 30 to September 25. While based at Ohakea, near Palmerston North on New Zealand’s North Island, the F-16s will carry out training exercises across New Zealand, Mitchell said, including day and night operations and using New Zealand weapons ranges.

“Singapore is one of our closest defence partners. All three services of the New Zealand Defence Force regularly train and exercise with their Singaporean counterparts, and it will be a pleasure to welcome this group to New Zealand,” Mitchell said.

“Our two countries have an active agreement to explore opportunities for further military co-operation and training and this exercise aligns perfectly with that.” The F-16Ds will be supported by 110 personnel.

“This exercise is timely, in that it will provide valuable data for the process and how basing F-15s at Ohakea might work for our Air Force,” Mitchell said.

Singapore has South-East Asia’s most advanced air force, but the tiny island nation lacks airspace and ranges for training, and consequently already bases fighter and trainer aircraft permanently in the US (F-15SGs at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho and F-16C/Ds at Luke AFB, Nevada), France (M-346 jet trainers at Cazaux) and Australia (PC-21 turboprop trainers at RAAF Base Pearce). It also bases Chinook and Apache helicopters in the US and Cougar helicopters at Oakey, Queensland.

Pilatus PC-21 formally welcomed into RAAF service

The first six Pilatus PC-21 advanced trainers for the Royal Australian Air Force were formally welcomed into service during a ceremony at RAAF Base East Sale, Victoria on August 11.

Forty-nine PC-21s as well as simulators and training devices are being acquired under the AIR 5428 Pilot Training System. The first two RAAF PC-21s were displayed at the Avalon Airshow earlier this year shortly after their delivery flights from Switzerland, with contracted handover to the Commonwealth due by the end of June.

“The new pilot training system is a significant leap forward and will train more of our people faster, and to a higher standard than our current system,” Defence Minister Senator Maris Payne said in a statement.

“This will provide the Australian Defence Force with a tailored pilot training system to meet the needs of our pilots for the next 30 years.” Training of undergraduate Air Force, Army and Navy pilots on the PC-21 is due to commence in early 2019.

“The ADF will now have an intake of up to 165 trainee pilots each year at RAAF Base East Sale, leading to an increase in the number of successful graduates,” Minister Payne said.

Prime contractor for the AIR 5428 project is Lockheed Martin, which teamed with Pilatus and Hawker Pacific to deliver the new ADF pilot training system under a seven-year, $1.2 billion contract signed in late 2015.

Under AIR 5428 the PC-21 will replace both the ageing Pilatus PC-9/A advanced trainer, which has been in service since 1988, and the CT-4B Airtrainer, which is currently used for basic training. The PC-9/A is due to be withdrawn in 2019 after 30 years of service and more than 500,000 flying hours. “It really is the start point of us generating what will become a fifthgeneration Air Force,” CAF said of the PC-21 at Avalon.

Forty-two PC-21s will be used for basic and advanced pilot training with the Basic Flying Training School (BFTS), which is relocating from Tamworth to East Sale, and 2 Flying Training School (2FTS) at RAAF Base Pearce north of Perth, as well as for instructor training and Roulettes formation display team flying with Central Flying School (CFS), also at East Sale.

“Over $300 million is being invested in new state of the art training facilities, which incorporates seven new PC-21 flight simulators, both here at RAAF Base East Sale and at RAAF Base Pearce in Perth,” Minister Payne said.

Of the remaining aircraft three are due to be allocated to the Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU) at RAAF Base Edinburgh, with four for forward air control/JTAC training with 4 Squadron at RAAF Base Williamtown, NSW.

RAAF retires “legacy” Heron UAV

The Royal Australian Air Force is facing a three-year gap in operating an unmanned aircraft (or remotely-piloted aircraft systems – RPAS – to use the RAAF’s preferred nomenclature) following the retirement of the IAI Heron in June.

Three Herons were leased in late 2009 to meet an urgent operational requirement to provide surveillance support to Australian and coalition troops in Afghanistan, becoming the first unmanned aircraft to be operated by the RAAF (the Jinidivik target drone aside).

With Australia winding down its presence in Afghanistan in 2014 Defence elected to extend the lease on two Herons for operations in Australia for a further six years at a cost of $120 million, however Defence has evidently negotiated an early cancellation of that lease. “The Heron is leased from MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd (MDA).

The lease was negotiated to expire in 2017,” a Defence spokesperson told Australian Aviation via emailed statement.

“Defence does not have a requirement to extend the lease because the Heron is a legacy RPAS. It has limited potential to provide experience in the more complex aspects of RPAS operations.”

That will leave the RAAF without an unmanned aircraft capability until the early 2020s when an armed medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system is acquired under Project AIR 7003, the contenders for which are the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper and the IAI Heron TP.

“Air Force has taken steps to retain and further develop mediumaltitude, long-endurance RPAS knowledge and experience, including embedding RAAF personnel in the United States Air Force flying the MQ-9 Reaper,” the spokesperson said.

“These personnel will form the core of the future ADF capability to be delivered by AIR 7003.”

Between January 2010 and November 2014 RAAF Herons flew over 27,100 hours in support of operations in Afghanistan, while between April 2015 and June 2017 the two Herons based in Australia flew a further 710 hours.

The two Australian-based Herons have mostly flown from RAAF Base Woomera, South Australia, but have also flown from RAAF Base Amberley and participated in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2015.

Operated by 5 Flight, approximately 75 remote pilots and 75 sensor operators were trained on the Heron in its time in RAAF service.

Major works contract for Western Sydney Airport to be awarded in 2019

A major works contract for the Western Sydney Airport will be awarded in 2019, according to WSA Co, the new governmentowned corporation tasked with building Sydney’s long-awaited second airport.

The new WSA Co website reveals that the new airport will be built via a single package of works contract, covering design and construction, expected to be awarded in 2019.

“At a minimum, the main airport works for the Stage 1 development will include: earthworks to move and redistribute 22 million cubic metres of soil on the Badgerys Creek site; a 3.7-kilometre runway, aprons, taxiways and other appropriate aviation facilities; a multi-level terminal with a floor area of up to 90,000 square metres; drainage and utilities; car-parking facilities for around 11,500 cars; and on-site roads,” the website details.

The contract will be awarded after an expected two-stage process comprising an expression of interest from which shortlisted companies will then be issued with a request for proposals.

WSA Co’s formation was announced jointly on August 7 by Minister for Infrastructure and Urban Development Paul Fletcher and Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann, with the government appointing four directors to the WSA Co board, led by chair Paul O’Sullivan.

“Mr O’Sullivan’s business leadership expertise makes him highly credentialled to lead the company delivering Western Sydney Airport,” the Ministers’ statement reads.

“His deep experience leading an infrastructure business as it established market share against a long established incumbent will be of great value as Western Sydney Airport is planned and constructed before commencing operations by 2026.”

The former Optus chief executive is joined on the WSA Co board by former Qantas chief information officer Fiona Balfour, Ernst & Young veteran Tim Eddy, and civil engineer and aviation infrastructure and airports expert (and current Auckland Airport board member) Christine Spring. “The board’s early priorities will be to recruit its CEO and senior management and to commence procurement of construction activities,” the statement reads.

“To complement the experience of the directors announced today, the Government expects to appoint further directors in coming months, with a further focus on construction expertise and experience in Western Sydney.”

Creation of WSA Co was flagged in this year’s federal budget, which showed initial funding for the new corporation would be $2.3 million split across the Department of Finance ($1.7 million) and Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development ($600,000) in 2017-18.

But over the next 10 years the government plans to inject up to $5.3 billion in equity into WSA Co to build the new airport.

Just days ahead of the budget the federal government announced it had opted to go it alone in building Sydney’s long-awaited second airport at Badgerys Creek after Sydney Airport Corporation, which operates Sydney’s Kingsford Smith airport, chose not to take up its right of first refusal to build and operate the proposed new airport. The new airport is expected to begin receiving its first passengers in 2026 and initially will be capable of handling up to 10 million passengers annually.

Dassault delivers 2,500th Falcon Jet

Dassault Aviation has delivered its 2,500th Falcon business jet, a Falcon 900LX which was handed over to a US customer at the company’s Little Rock, Arkansas completion centre.

“Over the half century it has been in operation, the Falcon fleet has amassed an amazing 17.8 million hours of flight time with some 1,230 operators in 90 countries around the world,” Dassault Aviation chairman and chief executive Eric Trappier said on July 20.

“Moreover, of the 2,500 Falcons delivered to date, more than 2,100 are still flying – which is a clear testimony to the high quality and robustness of our Falcon aircraft and the dedication of those who support them.”

The original Falcon jet, a Mystère 20, was delivered in 1965, while the Falcon 900 has been the best selling member of the Falcon Jet family, with more than 500 built to date. Both the Mystère 20 (or Falcon 20) and Falcon 900 have served in the Royal Australian Air Force as VIP transports, while nine Falcons of various models are currently on the Australian civil aircraft register – one Falcon 7X, two Falcon 900s, two Falcon 2000s, two Falcon 50s and two Falcon/ Mystère 20s.

CASA delays new fatigue rules, announces independent review

Regulator seeks an “informed basis” for new rules

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has once again deferred the introduction of new fatigue risk management rules by a further six months, announcing that their implementation will be informed by a new independent review.

The aviation safety regulator says that a team of specialists brought together by professional consultancy services company Dédale Asia Pacific will report back to the CASA board in early 2018 after it benchmarks the new Civil Aviation Order (CAO) 48.1 fatigue risk management rules against those of other leading aviation nations and regulators, including the US, Europe, the UK, Canada and New Zealand.

“This is a group of well qualified people with expertise in the right areas who will look at key fatigue issues and provide independent advice to CASA,” CASA board chair Jeff Boyd said in a statement on August 7.

“The review team will examine feedback previously provided to CASA and will establish a mechanism to engage extensively with industry and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that all views are considered. CASA will ensure that any proposed changes flowing from the review will be subject to appropriate consultation.”

With the review process now in place CASA says it has delayed its deadline for the introduction of CAO 48.1 to October 31 2018, with air operators having to submit their draft operations manual changes or an application for a fatigue risk management system to CASA by April 30 2018.

“The outcomes of the review will provide CASA with an informed basis for finalising the reform of the fatigue rules for air operators and pilots,” the CASA statement reads.

“The specialists have experience and expertise in studying the effects of fatigue on operational performance in a range of safety‑critical industries, as well as developing and evaluating fatigue models.”

The new CAO 48.1 rules have been welcomed by some aviation groups and condemned by others. When their introduction was previously delayed, in October 2016, AusALPA, the Australian Airline Pilots Association, said its members were “very concerned” and described fatigue as a “clear safety issue” given how often it had been cited as a contributing factor in recent aviation accidents and incidents.

But the Australian Aviation Associations Forum (TAAAF), which comprises peak representative bodies in the local industry, has previously called on CASA to abolish CAO 48.1, arguing that “industry rejects the limited science it is based on, the ignoring of decades of safe operations, the massive costs it will impose and the complexity that will inevitably lead to noncompliance”.

A4ANZ appoints inaugural chief Executive

Dr Alison Roberts has been appointed as the inaugural chief executive officer of new peak industry body Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ).

Formerly the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s executive director of policy, advocacy and innovation, Dr Roberts started in her new role on August 1.

“Alison has a strong track record of championing the interests of her stakeholders in a complex, highly-regulated industry, for an important sector of the economy,” A4ANZ chair Professor Graeme Samuel said in a statement.

“It is this experience, along with her delivery of innovative solutions and community work, which makes Alison well-equipped to work with our member airlines to pursue regulatory reform on issues that impact the aviation sector and affect Australian and New Zealand travellers.”

A4ANZ’s membership comprises Australia’s and New Zealand’s major airlines – Air New Zealand, Jetstar, Qantas, Regional Express, Tigerair Australia and Virgin Australia – and was formed in March 2017 to represent the airline industry’s interests in government aviation policy, including airports and taxation.

“A4ANZ’s goal is to achieve regulatory reform that will promote a competitive and sustainable airline industry in the interests of Australian and New Zealand travellers,” Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said at the time.

Professor Samuel said Dr Roberts had been recruited after a “robust” recruitment process.

“A PhD in change management and current role leading a national policy and advocacy team for a peak body, provide a solid foundation in analytical thinking, the identification of trends, challenges and opportunities at a systemic level and effective implementation,” he said..

Alliance posts 37 per cent profit increase

Alliance Aviation Services has reported a 37 per cent improvement in full-year net profit and says the resources sector is showing signs of improvement.

The company said statutory net profit for the 12 months to June 30 2017 came in at $18.5 million, a significant increase from $13.5 million in the previous financial year.

Revenue rose 12 per cent to $203.2 million, Alliance said in a regulatory filing to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on August 10.

“The current result is pleasing and positions the business well for the future,” Alliance managing director Scott McMillan said.

Profit before tax came in at $19.6 million, a 45 per cent increase from $13.5 million in the prior year.

Alliance has sought to broaden its operations from fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) work to boost revenue in areas such as tourism, aircraft sales, wet and dry leasing and spare parts sales.

In July, the airline commenced regular public transport services (RPT) from Brisbane to Bundaberg, Gladstone and Port Macquarie with Fokker 70 regional jets which are sold with Virgin Australia codeshare services.

Meanwhile, Alliance and Virgin have received Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) approval to work together in the charter and FIFO market, allowing for the joint tendering for corporate FIFO contracts, as well as cooperating on aircraft maintenance, procurement of aircraft and parts, parts pooling, airport operations, airport handling, check-in, frequent flyer programs, lounge access, scheduling, pricing, sales and marketing and service policies.

There was an 11 per cent increase in total flight hours in 2016/17.

Wet lease flying jumped to 4,600 hours, compared with 853 hours in the prior year. Flight hours for contracted/charter flying fell three per cent to 17,872 hours.

Alliance operates some regional Queensland services on behalf of Virgin via a wet lease arrangement, in addition to agreements with a number of other carriers. The company had 29 aircraft in service at June 30 2017 – comprising five Fokker 50s, eight Fokker 70s and 16 Fokker 100s – up one from a year earlier. It said three additional aircraft would be introduced into service in the first half of 2017/18 to “position Alliance for further growth and fleet opportunities”.

Further, Alliance said revenue diversification was a key part of the 2017 result and would continue to be in future years.

“The resources sector continues to demonstrate signs of recovery and the Alliance strategic partnerships will provide opportunities during the next year,” Alliance said.

“Wet lease flying is forecast to continue to grow compared with the 2017 financial year and the recent introduction of regular public transport (RPT) services in regional Queensland and New South Wales will provide new opportunities.”

Qantas returns to Osaka Kansai with seasonal Sydney services

Qantas is to operate a threetimes- weekly Sydney-Osaka seasonal service from mid- December, the only direct flights between Australia’s largest and Japan’s second largest cities.

The flights will be operated by two-class Airbus A330s to Osaka’s Kansai International Airport between December 14 2017 and March 24 2018, Qantas announced on July 27.

“This December we celebrate 70 years of flying to Japan and we’re delighted to add another destination to the growing list of services Qantas operates between the two countries at a time when travel to Japan is booming,” Qantas international chief executive Gareth Evans said in a statement.

“Our commitment to the Japanese market is reflective of the strength of this growth, which we are very well placed to support with the largest Australia-Japan network, the largest domestic network in Australia, and the largest low-cost domestic network across Japan through Jetstar Japan.”

The flights will be operated largely by 297-seat A330-300s but with some Monday flights operated by 271-seat A330-200s according to operational requirements, a Qantas spokesperson confirmed to Australian Aviation via email.

Qantas last flew to Osaka in 2006-07 when it operated Cairns- Kansai services with Boeing 767-300ERs, having taken on the route from its short-lived Australian Airlines long-haul low-cost carrier subsidiary and before subsequently transferring the route to Jetstar operating A330-200s.

Qantas also flew to Osaka Kansai in the mid-1990s operating Boeing 747s on a Sydney- Kansai-Brisbane-Sydney rotation (the inaugural flight flew into Kansai on the airport’s opening day of September 4 1994, and was operated by the Wunala Dreaming-painted 747-400, VH‑OJB). Qantas then switched to a Cairns-Kansai schedule (with 767-300ERs) and also briefly operated Melbourne-Kansai flights (again with 767-300ERs). Ansett Australia also operated Sydney-Kansai-Brisbane flights between 1994 and its collapse in September 2001, using 747-300s and 747-400s.

And Air New Zealand operated seasonal three-times-weekly Auckland-Kansai flights between November 2016 and March 2017 with Boeing 787-9s (and not 767s as planned when it announced the route in March 2016).

Today, Jetstar continues to operate Cairns-Kansai flights (with 335-seat Boeing 787-8s). Jetstar Japan, in which the Qantas Group owns a one-third stake, also operates domestic Japanese services from Kansai.

Qantas says the new Sydney- Kansai flights will offer “good onward travel opportunities at both ends” connecting with domestic Australian and trans-Tasman flights in Sydney and Jetstar Japan domestic Japanese flights in Kansai.

Virgin Australia begins Wi-Fi rollout

Virgin Australia plans to maintain a form of free inflight internet Wi-Fi on Australian routes as it commences work adding connectivity on its Boeing 737-800s.

Under the rollout schedule, Virgin Australia said the “majority” of 737-800s would feature inflight internet Wi-Fi by the end of 2018.

Further, all five Boeing 777‑300ERs would be online by the end of 2018, with the six Airbus A330-200s slated to have inflight internet Wi-Fi during the second half of 2019.

Virgin is using Ku‑band Optus satellites for its Wi-Fi service via inflight internet provider Gogo’s “2Ku” dual-antenna technology (one for the forward link and one for the return link) which delivers simultaneous transmissions and faster connectivity compared to standard Ku-band connections. Meanwhile, the airline said previously it would partner with Intelsat and SES for its other international flights.

Virgin has offered passengers on board VH-YIG during the trial phase free access to the internet, as well as complimentary use of Netflix, Stan and Pandora services. Chief executive John Borghetti said the airline would continue to offer a “base level of free Wi-Fi” on domestic flights, with more details to be announced shortly.

“All we will say at this stage is that there will be a basic free offering for our guests domestically,” Borghetti said during Virgin’s full year results presentation (see separate story – Ed) on August 10. “But then clearly, depending on what the guests want they can upgrade that to further access.” “We are competitive and we will always meet the competitive position in any market whether it is price or anything else.”

First Qantas 787 in final assembly

Qantas’s first Boeing 787-9 is now under final assembly ahead of its anticipated October delivery date.

Qantas said recently final assembly began on August 10 and was due to take 18 working days to complete, with the aircraft due to roll off the production line by the end of August before entering the paintshop.

The major components for that aircraft, slated to be registered VH-ZNA, such as the nose, tail, fuselage and wings, arrived from their suppliers at Everett at the end of July. Typically the aircraft would then undertake two test flights with Boeing and then one or two customer acceptance flights ahead of formal handover to Qantas.

The first four of eight Dreamliners Qantas has on firm order are scheduled to operate six times weekly Melbourne- Los Angeles nonstop flights from December and a daily Melbourne-Perth-London rotation from March 2018.

Qantas to redeploy, upgrade two WA-based 717s

Qantas says redeploying two Boeing 717s from its intrastate WA network will be offset by increasing the utilisation of its Perth-based Fokker 100 fleet.

Two QantasLink 717s currently operating in Western Australia will be refitted from 125-seat all-economy class configurations to two-class 110-seat (12 business and 98 economy) interiors, Qantas says, as the airline continues to match capacity with demand.

The airline’s QantasLink regional arm operates 20 717s, with 10 single-class aircraft currently operating mostly intrastate WA flying and 10 two-class aircraft flying on East Coast routes.

Reconfiguring one of the 717s will allow that aircraft to be based in Brisbane to operate Brisbane-Adelaide and Brisbane- Cairns flight, in turn freeing up a Boeing 737-800 to be redeployed elsewhere on the Qantas network.

The second reconfigured two-class aircraft will be used as an operational spare to cover maintenance on other 717s. The first 717 will gain its new interior “later this year”, while the second aircraft will be refitted in January.

“Eight single-class 717 aircraft will continue to operate our intra-WA routes and we’ll also look to increase the utilisation of our F100 aircraft,” Qantas says.

“These changes will have no impact on our frequencies in intra-WA.”

The two aircraft will be refurbished at QantasLink’s Canberra heavy maintenance facility.

The 717s are crewed for QantasLink under contract by Cobham Aviation Services.