Australian Aviation

Russia’s long-awaited answer to the F-22 Raptor, the Sukhoi T-50, made its first flight on January 29 from Sukhoi/ KnAAPO’s Komsomolskon- Amur facility in Siberia’s far east. The T-50 is the prototype of the next generation PAK-FA (Perspektivnyi Aviatsionnyi Kompleks Frontovoi Aviatsy, or Future Frontline Aircraft System) under development to replace Russia’s Su-27/Su-30 Flanker series

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) says that demand is starting to recover in the Asia Pacific region, although airlines are also battling higher oil prices and underutilised capacity. Passenger numbers in the region showed an encouraging 8.1 per cent increase during January compared to the same month in 2009. Accordingly, RPKs increased by

The University of Queensland will lead a $14 million international consortium aimed at developing scramjet access-to-space systems capable of flying at speeds up to Mach 8. Chief investigator and project director Professor Russell Boyce of UQ said the project would answer key scientific and technological questions and build an industry-ready talent pool for a future

Qantas’s newest A330-200, which features personal in flight entertainment, entered service on March 1, operating QF415 from Sydney to Melbourne. Named Clare Valley and registered VH-EBN, the aircraft is the second A330-200 in the Qantas fleet used on domestic services equipped with the Panasonic eX2 IFE system, which features over 500 entertainment options in both

Aeropelican has announced that it will commence nonstop flights between Sydney and Cooma’s Snowy Mountains Airport from June 11. The services will be operated by 19-seat BAe Jetstream 32s, with three return services Sunday to Friday and two return flights on Saturdays during winter. Aeropelican says that it plans to operate year-round services between Sydney

Qantas has announced that it will start nonstop services from Sydney and Melbourne to the northwest WA resource hub of Karratha from May. Nonstop services from both Melbourne and Sydney will be operated once weekly, adding to the once weekly Brisbane-Karratha service the airline has operated since November 2007. The flights will be operated by