The World of Aviation

New Zealand Defence Minister Wayne Mapp has announced that nine of the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s (RNZAF’s) 17 mothballed A-4K Skyhawks will be earmarked for museums (including one for Australia), after a long running attempt to sell the aircraft failed. “The government has made every effort to sell the Skyhawk fleet but no acceptable

Air New Zealand has appointed Christopher Luxon to group general manager International Airline. Luxon, who was a former president and CEO of Unilever Canada, will head Air NZ’s NZD $1.8 billion International Airline arm from May 30.

Virgin Blue has cancelled its Newcastle to Gold Coast service, with its last regular flight between Newcastle and the Gold Coast operating today. “We’re seeing this more as a general response to the Virgin Blue strategy of moving into the business market,” Newcastle Airport CEO Paul Hughes told the ABC. “But it’s also on the

Qatar Airways has announced orders for three Boeing 777 Freighters and two 777-300ERs, in a deal worth US$1.4 billion at list prices. The airline’s 777 Freighter order, which was formally announced on April 6 at the Business & Investment in Qatar Forum in New York, was previously listed as ‘unidentified’ on Boeing’s Orders and Deliveries website

The F-35C carrier variant of the Joint Strike Fighter completed functional checks and a test catapult hookup on March 22, ahead of ship compatibility testing planned later this year. Test aircraft CF-1 conducted the trials at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, with test teams investigating an issue discovered during a preliminary fit check on the launch

Virgin Blue Group of Airlines has announced the appointment of Joshua Bayliss to the company’s board as a non‐executive director. Bayliss, who has worked as Virgin Group General Counsel in Geneva since 2005, will join fellow non-executive directors Mark Vaile, Rob Thomas and David Baxby and Sam Mostyn on Virgin Blue’s board, along with chairman