The times are a changing

In that time it has grown into a publication acknowledged as the leader in its field in Australasia, further supported in recent times by our news and feature website australianaviation.com.au and the digital incarnation of the magazine.

Through it all, the print magazine has retained a bedrock of dedicated subscribers and retail buyers, many of them aviation industry experts, many of them civilian and military pilots, aircrew and engineers, or – like me – hard core aviation enthusiasts who still get a buzz from sitting alongside a perimeter fence. I call myself an aircraft nerd – and proud of it.

Now, at a time when many a print magazine is going out of business or, at best, wholly retreating behind a website, we are aiming to build on that 40-year-strong foundation with a change in print publishing strategy aimed squarely at expanding our coverage while delivering a solution to a problem experienced by many “time-poor” customers.

Our answer is two-fold: a change in the publishing cycle to deliver Australian Aviation as a bi-monthly, allowing more time for readers to consume it, while bringing to market a new aviation magazine with a wider, more global emphasis.

World of Aviation will have a new look, different format, mainly feature content and will engage expert coverage from the US, Europe, Asia and – even closer to home – New Zealand and the Pacific islands. There will also be Australia-based content where it has worldwide implications.

World of Aviation, or WOFA as we have tagged it, will also be a bi-monthly, dovetailing with the Australian Aviation print cycle. In other words our dedicated subscribers will still receive a magazine once a month while our retail customers looking for us on the newsstands will have the chance to buy one or other or both.

The first World of Aviation will be distributed towards the end of next month and before then we will bring you another exciting development: a World of Aviation website.

Rare changes, but changes for the better.

S o to this edition and expert examination of a struggle for supremacy that is overshadowed somewhat by the ‘clash of the titans’ – the ongoing push and shove for marketshare between larger, longer range aircraft manufacturers.

In this region the stage is set for what will be an intriguing battle to seize the initiative in the mid-range, lower capacity market, both jet and turboprop. Manufacturers such as Embraer, Mitsubishi and ATR are joining the majors in eyeing off potential, and are all too well aware of the lifespan of some of our mid-range line aircraft

Speculation is already mounting over which types might be best suited to take over from, say, the Fokker 70s and -100s, and Boeing 717s, or which cutting-edge jets might offer more economical alternatives to turboprops on some regional routes.

Senior contributor JOHN WALTON provides the insight starting on here.

‘The print magazine has retained a bedrock of dedicated subscribers’