The World of Aviation

AirAsia X will lease six Airbus A330s as the Malaysia-based long haul budget carrier moves to ramp up flights to Australia and Asia. The Jetstar competitor plans to begin taking delivery of the aircraft next year. The A330-300s are being leased from US-based International Lease Finance Corp in a deal worth about $500 million. AirAsia

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association says an uptick in aircraft shipments during the first half the year may be a sign of a bounce-back in the beleaguered GA market. GAMA said aircraft shipments rose nearly six per cent compared to the first six months of 2011, while the value of aircraft deliveries rose 13.2 per

Qantas expects to save $300 million a year through 2,800 previously announced job cuts under its five year transformation plan, CEO Alan Joyce told a US business forum yesterday in Sydney on Wednesday. Joyce also revealed that the airline will report an underlying profit but a statutory loss when it releases its annual financial results

Increasing competition between Qantas and Virgin Australia has yet to pay a dividend for passengers as domestic airfares in Australia rose by five per cent over the three months ending in June. That was well above a three per cent rise across the Asia-Pacific region and roughly one per cent increases in the Americas and

A revamped Tamworth Regional Airport has opened its doors after a $4.2 million terminal extension and security upgrade. The federally-funded renovations have seen the airport’s arrivals and departures lounge tripled in size and the car park extended, as well as the installation of new security equipment including explosive trace detection machines, hand held metal detectors

A distracted Qantas A380 pilot incorrectly entered departure runway information into the aircraft’s flight management system ahead of takeoff from Los Angeles last October, resulting in takeoff speeds not being displayed on the aircraft’s flight instruments as it rolled down the runway, the ATSB has found. As a result, the flightcrew were forced to call