The World of Aviation

The New Zealand government has announced it has sold five soon-to-be-retired RNZN SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopters to Peru. The aircraft were new-build machines which entered service with 3SQN in 2001 and 2003, and which are now in the process of being replaced by 10 SH-2G(I) Super Seasprites which were part of a former Australian order,

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways has announced plans to double its frequency of flights to Melbourne from daily to double-daily from August 2015. The new flights will be operated by 328-seat, three-class Boeing 777-300ERs and represent a 4,500 seats per week capacity increase on the route. “Significantly, we will be the only airline offering double daily

The RAAF has accepted the first two of 10 C-27J Spartan tactical airlifters onto the Commonwealth register, and commenced maintenance training on the aircraft at L-3’s facility at Waco in Texas on December 8, and aircrew training with instructors from L-3 Communications on December 15. The milestone is the latest in the RAAF’s effort to

Media reports in New Zealand have indicted the NZ Defence Force may be considering acquiring between two and four C-17s to replace its C-130H Hercules and Boeing 757 transports in service. First reported with little accompanying detail on Auckland’s Radio ZB on December 13, the story has spread across social media in the past week, particularly

Kevin Andrews has been named as the new Minister for Defence as part of a cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Tony Abbott in Canberra on Sunday. Andrews, until now Minister for Social Services, will take on the portfolio from Senator David Johnston, who will leave cabinet despite the Prime Minister praising for him doing

Qantas’s first Boeing 747-400 has arrived back in Australia and is expected to be shortly be on its way to a yet-to-be-identified retirement home. After a delay of more than four hours, VH-OJA departed Los Angeles as QF18 in the early hours of Friday morning at 0045 local time bound for Sydney. The flight landed