Australian Aviation

Air New Zealand will have a competitor between Auckland and Shanghai over summer with China Eastern set to start a seasonal service on the route from December. Shanghai-based China Eastern has announced a four times weekly Auckland-Shanghai service using Airbus A330 aircraft starting on December 9, which will increase to daily in January 2015. The

Security promises to be top of the agenda at the 2014 Regional Aviation Association of Australia national convention. Speakers at the conference will include Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, Chief of the Defence Force, as well as David Forsyth, chair of the Aviation Safety Regulatory Review. This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.

Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon has defended the carrier’s pricing on regional routes and says fares on turboprop services will always be more expensive than jet-operated flights due to economies of scale. Luxon says Air NZ has the best regional network in the world, citing independent research which shows all towns with populations

10 years ago A US$4.25 million contract has been awarded to the Piasecki Aircraft Corporation through the USN’s Aviation Applied Technology Directorate for a research program into a vectored thrust ducted propeller (VTDP). To be conducted at the company’s Essington, Pennsylvania facility, Piasecki will receive a YSH-60F Seahawk prototype for modification into a compound helicopter

The first 787 for Eithad Airways has been rolled out in a ceremony at Boeing’s Everett facilities on September 28. The aircraft, the first of 71 787s on order for the Abu Dhabi-based carrier, sports Etihad’s new livery first revealed only days earlier on its first Airbus A380. This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members. LoginBecome

Bennet Aviation’s Wolf Pitts Pro PVB is the only new type shown in the New Allocations section this issue. The aircraft is a highly modified Pitts S-1S Special with a completely new wing designed by American Steve Wolf. An extremely talented pilot and aeronautical engineer, Steve has specialised in flying and modifying Pitts Specials and