The World of Aviation

Virgin Australia has taken the title of the nation’s most punctual airline for a second straight month, new figures show. Virgin’s mainline operations led all the major carriers in December, with 86.9 per cent of its flights pushing back from the gate within 15 minutes of their scheduled departure time. The airline’s on-time arrival rate

Australia’s Aircraft Noise Ombudsman Ron Brent has been given an expanded role to handle and review complaints about military aircraft noise. The addition of military aircraft to the ombudsman’s current responsibility for civil aircraft is part of a new memorandum of understanding signed by Brent’s office, Airservices Australia and the Department of Defence. In a

Sydneysiders will get an close-up look at a Qantas Airbus A380 on Australia Day when the double-decker superjumbo performs a fly past at low altitude over the Harbour Bridge. The fly past was due to take place between 1245 and 1300 local time on Monday, with the aircraft to enter the Sydney Harbour from North

Air China will offer the only direct flight between Melbourne and Beijing when it starts Airbus A330-200 service on the route from June 1 as the Australian government opens up more capacity for Chinese carriers to Australia. The Chinese flag carrier has opened reservations for the new flights, which will operate four times a week,

Etihad Airways has lifted its stake in Virgin Australia to 24.2 per cent after buying a fresh parcel of shares in the airline for the second time in two months. The Abu Dhabi-headquartered carrier forked out $22.2 million to purchase 45.8 million ordinary shares at 48.4 cents per share in an off-market trade, according to

Hong Kong’s Air Transport Licensing Authority has commenced a hearing into whether Jetstar Hong Kong will be given a licence to fly. The public inquiry was due to start at 0930 Hong Kong time on Friday morning, a statement on the Hong Kong Transport and Housing Bureau website said. “The Air Transport Licensing Authority will