Fifth A350 enters final assembly
The last of five A350 test aircraft has entered final assembly at Airbus’ Toulouse, France facilities. Aircraft MSN5 is due to fly in the northern spring of 2014 and will be the second of two flight test A350s to be fitted with a passenger cabin, allowing it to be used for both cabin related test
Qantas cites weaker demand for traffic fall, but Virgin, Tiger traffic up
Qantas says “weaker market demand” resulted in Qantas domestic passenger numbers falling by 2.9 per cent in September compared to September 2012, in contrast to competitor Virgin Australia, which saw 2.2 per cent growth in domestic traffic for the month. Qantas Group’s overall passenger numbers were down 0.1 per cent on September 2012, with Qantas
Boeing to increase 737 production rate again
Boeing has announced a further increase in 737 production rates to 47 aircraft a month in 2017. This will see more than 560 737s a year come off its Renton production lines, representing an increase in output of nearly 50 per cent since 2010. “This increase will lay a solid foundation as we bridge into
Flat August for domestic passengers as airfreight dives
There were 5.13 million passengers carried on Australian domestic flights in August, a modest increase of 1.9 per cent on August 2012, while the 60,232 aircraft movements for the month represented a one percent decrease. Airlines increased capacity at a rate one per cent lower than passenger traffic growth, increasing load factors and reflecting a
Speedy Citation reclaims world’s fastest civil aircraft crown
Cessna’s updated Citation X has been officially validated as having the fastest maximum operating speed of any civilian aircraft currently flying, reclaiming the title from Gulfstream’s G650. The Citation X regained its position following the conclusion of high-speed certification flights with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which recorded a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.935 (536kt
GippsAero, Hawker Pacific kick off GA8 ASEAN tour
After taking delivery of the 200th GippsAero GA8 Airvan, Hawker Pacific has begun a regional demonstration tour of the aircraft across the ASEAN region. Starting in Singapore last week, Hawker Pacific will showcase the GA8 in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and IndoChina. It is hoped the aircraft will appeal to the region’s tourism, utility and private markets.
