The World of Aviation

V Australia’s first flight from Brisbane to Phuket departed on November 22, with the outbound Boeing 777-300ER operating a full  flight. “With our first flight full to overflowing it’s obvious that Queenslanders have been waiting sometime for a direct service to Phuket and V Australia is pleased to be filling that gap,” Virgin Blue chief

Boeing held a ground breaking ceremony at its North Charleston, South Carolina, site on November 20 to mark the start of construction on its 787 final assembly and delivery facilities there. “Today’s event marks the beginning of an expansion plan that will strengthen the 787 program and allow us to continue building on the footprint

The Indian Ministry of Defence has approved in principle a decision to acquire 10 Boeing C-17 transports in a deal valued at more than US$2bn (A$2.18bn). The deal, now subject to negotiations between the Indian and US governments after a formal request was sent to the US, would see the aircraft replace ageing Il-76 transports

The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) has established its first F-15SG squadron at Mountain Home AFB in the US state of Idaho. The 428th Fighter Training Squadron, a combined USAF/RSAF unit whose aircraft wear Mountain Home (MO) tail codes, will operate 10 F-15SGs, which are advanced derivatives of the USAF’s F-15E Strike Eagle. Singapore

The USAF has sent six F-22 Raptors to Al Dhafra Air Base in Dubai to participate in a UAE Air Warfare Centre exercise from November 15 to December 10 – the first deployment of the aircraft to the Middle East. The previously unannounced participation of the F-22s is seen as particularly interesting as France –

The first two of six Erickson Air-Cranes have arrived in Australia to tackle this summer’s bushfire season, just as fires begin to rage in the country’s southeast as record November temperatures reach the low 40s. Elvis and Isabelle arrived in Melbourne via ship on November 21. The following day the fire-bombing helicopters were reassembled and flown off the wharf to nearby Essendon