The World of Aviation

Qantas commenced its trial of the ‘Next Generation Check-in’ at its Perth domestic terminal on July 29, which CEO Alan Joyce says will dramatically reduce check-in times, and eliminate queues for passengers. As part of the trial, 100,000 frequent flyers who regularly travel through Perth have been issued with new cards embedded with an ‘intelligent

Sir Richard Branson told journalists in Sydney that he has no plans to sell down the Virgin Group’s stake in Virgin Blue, despite some friction during recent months over the planned new name for the airline. “No plans to sell any stake to anybody, that’s all I can say at this stage,” Sir Richard said

Malaysian carrier AirAsia X could fly between Perth or the Gold Coast to Auckland or Christchurch, according to the airline’s CEO Azran Osman-Rani. Osman-Rani told attendees at an airline conference in Sydney that AirAsia X had a “golden opportunity” to enter the trans-Tasman market if there was consolidation between Air New Zealand and Pacific Blue’s

Qantas has applied to the International Air Services Commission (IASC) for a major increase in capacity on the Indonesia route, as well as further fifth freedom rights to carry passengers beyond Indonesia. Qantas has applied for an additional 3898 seats each week between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth and Indonesia, which it says would allow

German carrier Air Berlin has accepted an invitation for it to start the process of joining the oneworld airline alliance, with the full membership expected to be completed by early 2012. Air Berlin will develop one-on-one co-operative agreements with key established members of the alliance American Airlines and Finnair, to take effect this coming winter

A Boeing MD-11 Freighter operated by Lufthansa Cargo has been involved in an accident while landing in Riyadh on July 27. The aircraft, registered D-ALCQ, was operating a flight from Frankfurt to Hong Kong via Riyadh and Sharjah with 80 tonnes of freight on board. According to some reports, the aircraft’s fuselage fractured while landing