The World of Aviation

Members of Virgin Australia and South African Airways’ (SAA) frequent flyer programs will be able to “earn and burn” points across each other’s networks as part of an expanded partnership between the two carriers. The reciprocal frequent flyer agreement, announced on Friday, also offers elite members of Virgin’s Velocity and SAA’s Voyager benefits such as

Regional carrier Jetgo has cited low demand and economic conditions for shelving planned Sydney-Roma flights less than two weeks from launch. The airline was due to start operating between Sydney and Roma with 36-seat Embraer ERJ 135 aircraft from December 1. However, a post on Jetgo’s Facebook page on Thursday said those flights have been cancelled, with

Jabiru-powered aircraft will operate without restriction for at least another week after the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) extended the consultation period for proposed operational limitations on the manufacturer’s engines. CASA says it is continuing to learn more about the why there have been an increasing number of incidents from aircraft fitted with Jabiru engines.

Passengers will be able to watch ABC television programs, including new bulletins, on board Virgin Australia flights as part of a new commercial deal between the airline and the national broadcaster. Virgin from November 1 added three 15-minute news bulletins from the ABC on its seat-back entertainment system on board its widebody Boeing 777-300ER and

Tigerair Australia has introduced a new fare bundle called “Express” which allows passengers to add seat selection and priority boarding to their flight ticket at a discount. This latest initiative adds to the recent moves Tigerair Australia has implemented in a bid to improve its financial performance. Purchasing seat selection and priority boarding together would

Virgin Australia expects the full benefit of the recent drop in fuel prices to come in the second half of 2014/15, as the airline group points the market to an underlying profit for the three months to December 31 2015. In an update to shareholders at Wednesday’s annual general meeting in Brisbane, Virgin chief executive