The World of Aviation

The Italian Air Force’s fleet of Alenia C-27J Spartan tactical transports achieved the milestone of 10,000 hours in July. The 12 aircraft were delivered between 2007 and 2009 and are operated by the 46th Air Wing at Pisa, and have seen operations in Afghanistan since 2008.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) service has taken delivery of the first P-3 Orion to be substantially upgraded under Lockheed Martin’s Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) program. The aircraft, a former US Navy P-3B fitted with a rotating AEW radar on the upper fuselage, had its outer wings, centre wing lower surface, and horizontal stabilisers

The second RAAF Airbus Military KC-30A tanker-transport has emerged from the paintshop wearing its 33SQN RAAF colours. This aircraft, the first to have been converted to the tanker configuration from a standard A330-200 airframe with Qantas Defence Services in Brisbane, has been undergoing flight test with Airbus Military in Spain since late last year, alongside

Airbus and Eurocopter have signed a €1.5bn (A$2.1bn) agreement which will see doors for the A350 XWB designed and manufactured by Eurocopter Deutschland at Donauwörth in Germany. “This A350 XWB contract with Airbus, which gives us the go-ahead for the production phase, is of decisive importance to the future sustainability of our manufacturing site in

Qantas will start a new nonstop Port Hedland-Melbourne service from September as part of an increase of capacity in and out of WA’s northwest over the coming months. “We are very pleased to now add Port Hedland to the list of east-west routes that Qantas business and leisure customers can fly to direct from the

Adelaide Airport Ltd has announced that Chris Griffiths has been appointed as the manager of Parafield Airport. In the new role, Griffith will be responsible for all aeronautical and commercial functions at Parafield, with an emphasis on the operational nature of the airfield and its interaction with the community. Prior to the new role, Griffiths