Australian Aviation

Perth-based airline Skywest has announced the launch of twice-weekly scheduled flights to Busselton in WA’s south-west, as it looks to capitalise on a growing tourism market. Due to begin on July 8, the new services will fly between Perth and Busselton, as well as Busselton and Albany, with Skywest CEO Mark Shelton noting that Busselton

France has agreed to a sale of four Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Russia, in a deal reportedly worth US$1.94 billion. Russia’s order for the 200 metre long ‘command-and-control’ carriers is the first major purchase of NATO military hardware by the former Soviet state. However, the purchase has rattled some of Russia’s neighbours, most notably Georgia

Airbus has released a statement supporting the French Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA’s) preliminary findings into the crash of Air France Flight 447, which killed all 228 passengers and crew onboard in 2009. “The preliminary information released by the BEA today is consistent with facts published in the BEA preliminary and interim reports,” the statement read.

An electric powered aircraft technology demonstrator aircraft has made its first flight in Germany, program sponsor Airbus reports. The aircraft, known as ‘eGenius’, was publically unveiled at this year’s international Aero-Expo in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Designed by the University of Stuttgart’s Institute of Aircraft Design, eGenius took to the air on May 26, six weeks after

Virgin Australia has launched its A330 services, with the first flight taking off from Sydney for Perth on May 26, with paying passengers and media onboard, and returning that evening. The A330, VH-XFB Cable Beach, features Virgin Australia’s new Hans Hulsbosch designed economy and business class cabins which form part of the airline’s extensive rebranding

The tragic 2009 crash of doomed Air France Flight 447 has been attributed to pilot error, preliminary reports by French investigators of the Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA) have supposedly revealed. According to numerous online reports that have circled in the last week, sources close to the investigation say the Airbus A330’s autopilot disengaged after