The World of Aviation

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce says he will unveil restructuring plans for the longer term future of Qantas’s international operations on August 24 after revealing today that the airline’s international division will make a $200 million loss for the current financial year. “In FY11, Qantas International is forecast to generate a loss before interest and tax

Bell Helicopter has sold its remaining stake in the BA609 tiltrotor program to joint venture partner AgustaWestland, with the Textron subsidiary to take on a smaller support role. “I believe it is in the best interests of the program for AgustaWestland to assume ownership and management over the program going forward,” said Bruno Spagnolini, CEO

Airbus and Rolls-Royce have signed an agreement to develop a higher thrust variant of the Trent XWB turbofan for the new A350-1000 aircraft. Airbus CEO Tom Enders and his Rolls-Royce counterpart, John Rishton signed the agreement at the Paris Airshow on June 21. The enhanced Trent XWB will be capable of delivering up to 97,000lb

Airbus is considering a possible retrofit option of large winglets for existing A320 family aircraft, after being encouraged by the response to its current ‘Sharklet’ program for new build aircraft. The manufacturer will evaluate the “technical, operational and business aspects” of a potential retrofit program, which would “directly benefit from Airbus’s experience in developing the

Perth based corporate jet operator AVWest has placed a firm order for four Bombardier Global 7000 and two Global 8000 aircraft at the Paris Airshow, in a deal worth approximately US$400 million. Both types of aircraft will join AVWest’s existing corporate jet fleet, which includes the large cabin Bombardier Challenger 604, Global Express XRS, Hawker

Airbus Military and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at this week’s Paris Airshow to jointly develop and market the C295 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) platform, as both companies cite a growing demand for mid-size early warning aircraft. The MoU will see IAI subsidiary Elta Systems provide the