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Jetstar has begun operating the 787 on the trans-Tasman on an interim basis through until March 28 as it continues to build crew experience on the new Boeing twinjet. The Qantas Group’s low-cost carrier will operate the 335-seat 787-8 three times weekly between Melbourne and Auckland (on Mondays, Wedensdays and Fridays), with VH-VKA landing in Auckland

The Pentagon has released its proposed FY2015 defence budget, in which it plans to retire the USAF’s entire A-10C close air support and U-2S reconnaissance aircraft fleets. The FY15 budget commences on October 1 this year, and the planned cuts are designed to save money for higher priority programs such as the F-35 JSF, KC-46A

Bell has unveiled a full-scale mock-up of its new 505 Jet Ranger X at the Heli-Expo 2014 in Los Angeles. Previously known as the Short Light Single (SLS), the 505 will be feature a Turbomeca Arrius 2R engine with dual FADEC providing 376kW at takeoff, a high inertia rotor system, and the Garmin G1000H avionics

The Virgin Independent Pilots Association (VIPA) has echoed comments by airline CEO John Borghetti last week criticising a government proposal to offer a debt guarantee to Qantas. In a February 26 statement, VIPA questioned Qantas’s “ongoing capacity dumping” in order to maintain its 65 per cent ‘line in the sane’ market share, saying Qantas “added

Two more MH-60R Seahawk Romeos have left Lockheed Martin’s Owego facility on delivery to NUSQN725 at NAS Jacksonville in Florida. The two new aircraft join the first two which were delivered to Jacksonville last December. This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members. Login Become a Member To continue reading the rest of this

The US Navy has awarded Boeing a production contract for 16 P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, the first full-rate production contract for the 737 derivative. The order takes total US Navy orders to 53 P-8s, 37 of which had previously been ordered in low-rate production batches, and 13 of which have been delivered to date.