The World of Aviation

The US Department of Defense said this week it has reached a tentative agreement with Lockheed Martin on a new low rate initial production (LRIP) contract for F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. Neither the Pentagon nor Lockheed Martin has released details of the much delayed LRIP 5 contract, saying the cost and number of aircraft covered

China Southern’s top executive has outlined ambitions to connect Australian passengers with major hubs in Europe and North America as the booming carrier fields new competition for Qantas on its most lucrative routes. During a visit to the Gold Coast this week, China Southern President Tan Wan’geng said the airline planned to soon begin operating four

Polynesian Blue is set to become Virgin Samoa as Virgin Australia continues its rebranding campaign. Under the relaunch, Virgin Samoa’s single 737-800, named Tapu’itea, has been repainted in Virgin Australia’s red and white livery, but with a few Samoan touches such as a palm tree painted on the fuselage and a tatau pattern on the

Virgin Australia carried more domestic passengers than chief rival Qantas in October as it took advantage of the Flying Kangaroo’s labour troubles. Virgin saw its domestic passenger numbers surge to 1.51 million, a 7.4 per cent increase over October 2010. Qantas had earlier reported an 11.3 per cent drop in domestic carriage to 1.41 million passengers.

The number of potential cracks and hot spots discovered in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s airframe during initial fatigue testing has led the head of the US program to call for a slow down of production over the next few years. The comments by US Navy Vice Admiral David Venlet, which came in an interview with

Embraer has used the grand opening of a new $41 million showroom to deliver its first US built Phenom 100 business jet. The Brazilian aircraft maker opened an assembly plant for the $3.75 million entry level executive jet at the Melbourne International Airport in Florida in February, its first production facility in North America. The