The World of Aviation

Defence has confirmed that the serial prefix ‘A35’ has been assigned to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning when it enters RAAF service from 2014. “The serial number blocks assigned to the F-35 are A35-001 and following, with the final number to be determined by future government acquisition decisions,” a Department of Defence spokesperson has confirmed

The governments of Thailand and Australia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) allowing more flights between the countries. Airlines of the respective countries can now each operate up to 20,000 seats a week to and from Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. Regional airports will also gain benefit from the MoU with Thai carriers given

The US Army has awarded an US$181.8 million contract option for 34 additional UH-27A Lakota helicopters to EADS North America. The order would bring to 312 the total ordered so far for the Army, which is looking to procure a total of 347 through to 2016.  A total of 243 have so far been delivered.

Australian Helicopters has painted its fleet with moustaches in support of Movember. The company, which operates from eight bases across Australia providing mission critical services, last year raised $10,000 in support of men’s health issues, a figure it hopes to exceed this year as well as helping to give profile to the cause. Australian Helicopters’

Regional Express (REX) has retained all eight of its New South Wales intrastate routes, which it now has a renewed licence to operate through to March 2018. Despite the positive outcome, REX general manager of network and strategy Warrick Lodge said:  “Whilst Rex is the biggest beneficiary of the NSW licensed route regime, we have

Emirates has posted a 68 per cent increase in net profit for the six months to the end of September to US$575 million. The profit was derived from a more modest 16 per cent increase in revenues to US$10.4 billion, the first time the airline has broken the US$10 billion mark in a six-month period.