Staff reporter

Sky-high hopes for inflight wi-fi on local airlines With Qantas, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand launching inflight connectivity in 2017, and a record number of overseas airlines offering internet access to passengers on flights into the region, this year looks to be one of the most revolutionary for the aviation industry in a decade.

Mustang ready to fly Peter Gill’s CAC CA-18 Mustang VH-URZ/A68-199 is almost ready to fly. The aircraft, located at Tyabb, Victoria had its first engine run on November 28 and a taxi check the next day. It may well be that the aircraft has completed its first flight by the time these words are read.

Australian companies stand to benefit from an effort to acquire ‘soldier-proof’ unmanned systems for the Australian Army Australian industry involvement has been put at the heart of a plan to acquire a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) to be used by Australian Army soldiers that is expected to be man-portable or carried within a team.

Tigerair Australia to grow internationally as a “narrowbody operation” Appoints new chief pilot and director of flight operations Virgin Australia is sticking with the Tigerair Australia brand and plans to expand the low-cost carrier’s (LCC) footprint internationally with destinations in narrowbody range over the next three years. Tigerair began international operations in March, with flights

Just how far will Qantas go? There’s a nice symmetry that in the issue we explore Qantas’s “game-changing” announcement it will fly nonstop from Perth to London with the Boeing 787-9 from March 2018 that we also look at how its very first Boeing 747-400, which on its delivery flight to Australia in August 1989

Jessta says: Great if you can afford the pointy end or even possibly premium economy, but 3-3-3 in the 787 is shocking even on shorter longhaul routes, never lone 17 hours. If they were really hoping to make this work then it would be a Business / Premium Economy fit out only for this flight