The World of Aviation

The first Airbus A380 for China Southern has emerged from the paintshop at Airbus’s Hamburg facility. It is the first of five A380s China Southern has on order.

Melbourne and Sydney airports have both recorded strong increases in international passenger numbers in May, with more modest domestic growth. Melbourne’s very strong international passenger growth is continuing, with international passenger numbers up 18.5 per cent on May 2010 to 490,306. Domestic passenger numbers increased 4.0 per cent to 1,763,396. Meanwhile, passenger numbers at Sydney

Boeing’s 747-8 Freighter arrived at Le Bourget Airport on June 20 for the Paris Airshow after completing its trans Atlantic crossing powered by biofuel. Part of Boeing’s five-strong commercial aircraft line-up for Paris, the 747-8 Freighter flew from Boeing’s Everett, Washington, facility with all four of its General Electric GEnx-2B engines powered by a blend

Qantas, Virgin Australia and Tiger have announced widespread flight cancellations as the ash cloud from Chile’s Cordon Caulle volcano continues to wreak havoc over southern Australia. Virgin Australia has suspended all services to and from Adelaide and Mildura today, all flights into and out of Canberra from 1pm, and from Sydney and Melbourne from 4pm.

A review into civil aviation access to military airfields, released for public comment by Defence Minister Stephen Smith last Thursday, warns against further easing of access restrictions to RAAF bases around Australia, and argues there is “no case” to open bases near major capital cities to RPT airline operations. “The major capital city airports have

Virgin Australia has suspended all services to and from Adelaide and Mildura for tomorrow (June 21), as the troublesome volcanic ash plume from Chile’s Cordon Caulle volcano makes a return to Australia. “The current forecast suggests the ash plume will [descend] below 20,000ft over Adelaide and Mildura tomorrow. With this in mind we are suspending