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Qantas has announced a series of improvements to its services to Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Auckland and Christchurch, as it embarks on extending its alliance with Emirates across the Tasman from today. A twice-weekly nonstop service between Perth and Auckland will be introduced on a seasonal basis from early December to the end of January

The Qantas Group is to open a new $100 million base at Melbourne Airport to maintain Jetstar’s 787 fleet and will likely become the base for Qantas’s mainline 787s in due course. The facility will also provide crew training, incorporating a 787 simulator and a cabin trainer. Jetstar will lease a hangar from the Qantas Group

Low-cost airline Scoot has launched a cheeky advertising campaign targeting this year’s federal election. The campaign – It’s Abbott time you got a Ruddy good fare – offers cheap flights on Scoot’s services from Sydney and Gold Coast to Singapore and beyond to Bangkok, Taipei and other destinations. This content is available exclusively to Australian

Rising demand for travel between Hong Kong and Australia has led Cathay Pacific to call for more capacity between the two markets. The airline, having reached its limit of 70 flights a week under current bilateral agreements, will seek additional flights as airports in Australia record dramatically increased inbound traffic from Hong Kong and China.

India has launched a 37,500t indigenously-built aircraft carrier – the INS Vikrant. The ship, which will have a length of 260m and a width of 60m, will now be fitted out at the Cochin shipyards ahead of planned sea trials in 2016. The Vikrant is expected to be commissioned in 2018. At the launch of

As customer deliveries of the A400M get underway, Airbus Military continues the aircraft’s development program. A renewed phase of unpaved runway trials is being undertaken at a test site Zaragoza, Spain. Meanwhile the first production A400M for the Turkish Air Force (TAF) has made its maiden flight. The aircraft took off on August 9 for