Australian Aviation

Qantas in FY2023-24 exhausted its pandemic-related carry-over losses and paid $24 million in tax in the latter half of the year, while Virgin says it expects to begin paying income tax again in FY25–26 once its own carry-over losses have run out.

As part of the Five Power Defence Arrangements between Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom, the drill is a continued commitment to promoting regional security, enhancing interoperability and strengthening allied preparation.

A Eurocopter AS350 (registration unknown), which was conducting agricultural spraying operations near Holbrook, NSW, on 3 September, hit a wire with its skids and lost control, crashing into the ground and catching fire; despite this, the pilot was able to get clear with only minor burns.

According to reports this week in The Wall Street Journal, the planemaker’s CEO, Kelly Ortberg, met with Rolls-Royce officials in the UK earlier this year to discuss engine options for the aircraft, while “a person familiar with the plans” said Boeing is designing a flight deck for a new narrow-body.

Fleet Space says its 5,300-square-metre facility will boost Australia’s advanced manufacturing capacity, enabling the production of thousands of next-generation geophysical sensors and hundreds of satellites annually.

A total of 43 pilots from Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States, plus new teams from Belgium, Germany and the Philippines, competed in the three-day competition from 16 to 18 September.