The World of Aviation

Boeing has completed assembly of the forward fuselage section of the first 747-8 Intercontinental, with the 27.2m section moved from an assembly tool for sealing and testing before beginning systems installation. The first Intercontinental is expected to be delivered to launch customer Lufhansa in the fourth quarter of 2011, while delivery of the first 747-8

Bell 407 operators are set to benefit from lower operating costs after the manufacturer made some changes to its Maintenance Manual, which it says will significantly lower its direct operating costs. The changes have seen Bell  remove 14 items from the life limited section of the manual, and also made an adjustment to the on-condition

Sir Richard Branson says that Virgin Blue could stop flying across the Tasman unless it gets permission for its proposed alliance with Air New Zealand to proceed. Branson told Radio National’s Sunday Profile program that the airline was currently losing money on its services to New Zealand, and that by working together with Air New

The Defence Department has called in the Australian Federal Police to investigate the awarding of a contract in 2005 for air charter services to the Middle East following media reports of misconduct between members of the ADF and the winner of the contract, Strategic Aviation Group. The referral to the AFP came after The Age

Boeing has announced that it has commenced fatigue testing a 787 test airframe, which will involve testing for how the structure responds over a simulated number of life cycles. “Unlike static tests, where loads are applied to the airplane structure to simulate both normal operation and extreme flight conditions, fatigue testing is a much longer

The Virgin Blue Group has filed applications with the International Air Services Commission (IASC) seeking to reallocate capacity granted to V Australia on the Fiji route to Pacific Blue, and also to change an allocation on the Indonesia route from Pacific Blue to Virgin Blue. On the Fiji route, Virgin Blue is seeking to transfer