The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has opened submissions for its review into commercial and recreational operations of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), or drones. The regulator on Friday published a discussion paper on RPAS operations in Australia, noting there were about 50,000 drones used in this country currently, mostly for sport and recreational purposes.
Qantas has linked up with online retail giant Alibaba Group to expand its presence in the fast-growing China travel market. Under a memorandum of understanding, the Australian carrier will sell flights on Alibaba Group’s online travel website Fliggy, which is based in China. The pair said in a joint statement on Friday that Qantas was
Airservices promises real cost reductions of 10 per cent
Airservices Australia says the benefits of its ‘Accelerate’ restructuring program will allow it to deliver real cost reductions to its aviation industry customers across the next five years. The government-owned air navigation service provider and aviation firefighting operator released its latest five-year corporate plan on Tuesday, detailing its forecasted financial performance through to the end
Virgin Australia begins installing wi-fi on Boeing 737-800 fleet, with 777s and A330s to follow
Virgin Australia says it is has commenced work equipping its Boeing 737-800 narrowbodies with inflight internet wi-fi. The announcement on Thursday follows the start of a trial on board a single 737-800 VH-YIG that commenced at the end of April. Under the rollout schedule, Virgin Australia said the “majority” of 737-800s would feature inflight internet
Qantas to redeploy, upgrade two WA-based 717s
Qantas says redeploying two Boeing 717s from its intrastate WA network will be offset by increasing the utilisation of its Perth-based Fokker 100 fleet. Two QantasLink 717s currently operating in Western Australia will be refitted from 125-seat all-economy class configurations to two-class 110-seat (12 business and 98 economy) interiors, Qantas says, as the airline continues
RAAF retires “legacy” Heron UAV
The Royal Australian Air Force is facing a three-year gap in operating an unmanned aircraft (or remotely-piloted aircraft systems – RPAS – to use the RAAF’s preferred nomenclature) following the retirement of the IAI Heron in June. Three Herons were leased in late 2009 to meet an urgent operational requirement to provide surveillance support to
