The World of Aviation

The Airbus A400M airlifter has begun air-to-air refuelling trials, with A400M test aircraft ‘Grizzly 1’ performing a series of dry contacts with a RAF VC10 on February 15. The A400M’s probe connected to the VC10 fuselage mounted house drum unit’s drogue in the trials.

Jetstar has cancelled all of its current scheduled services to and from Darwin between today (February 16) and 0800 hours tomorrow morning (February 17) after Cyclone Carlos battered the coastline. With Darwin Airport closed until further notice, the airline continues to work closely with local authorities in an effort to find out the best time

Pre-empting the new competitive challenge from Virgin Blue’s forthcoming Airbus A330s, Qantas has announced it will deploy “internationally configured” widebody aircraft, including Boeing 747-400s, on its transcontinental services between Perth and Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, in the process adding more than 4300 seats a week. On the Sydney-Perth route two-class Skybed equipped 747-400s will operate

Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected Bankstown Airport’s 2010 draft masterplan, citing insufficient community information about its plans. “In its proposed master plan, Bankstown Airport sought approval for up to 32 passenger flights a day,” Minister Albanese said on February 16. “This would be a significant change given the airport does not have

A new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Australia and Vietnam signed on February 11 increases by 3300 seats per week the capacity available to Australian and Vietnamese airlines to operate between the two countries. According to a statement from Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Anthony Albanese, the MOU will now enable airlines from both Australia

For the first time aircraft from the Temora Aviation Museum will be on show at the Avalon Airshow next month, as the airshow celebrates the 90th anniversary of the RAAF. Temora’s (RAAF owned) CAC Sabre plus its Lockheed Hudson, Gloster Meteor and Spitfire Mk V III will be among the warbirds on display at Avalon.