The World of Aviation

Airbus’s A330neo certification program has entered the home straight with the start of a world tour for route proving tests. The aircraft that will fly to 15 cities across five continents while accumulating 150 flight test hours is MSN1819, which is the first A330-900 production aircraft and features the colours of launch customer TAP Portugal.

Airbus is considering enhancements to its A321neo LR narrowbody that would increase the fuel carrying capacity and add extra range to the aircraft, news reports says. The Reuters news agency reported on June 18 the potential new aircraft had the working title A321XLR and would be of the same size as the existing A321neoLR. The

Gold Coast Airport chief operating officer Marion Charlton says the legacy of the airport’s textbook execution of its operations during the recent Commonwealth Games is the confidence it has all the tools to handle events of similar magnitude in the future. Over a two-week period in April, the airport at Coolangatta just north of the

The Department of Defence is inviting industry to submit innovative proposals to reduce the visual and acoustic signatures of unmanned aerial systems (UAS). “Defence is looking for outcomes to reduce both the visual and acoustic detection of UAS from ground-based observation without disrupting the operation of the aircraft,” Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne said in

Airbus has cut the ribbon on a new A320 family aircraft production line at its Hamburg, Germany facility. Hamburg joins existing A320 final assembly lines at Toulouse, France; Tianjin, China; and Mobile, United States. Airbus Commercial Aircraft president Guillaume Faury officially opened the new facility on June 14 amid 500 invited guests, staff and media.

The first year-round flights between Auckland and Bali have commenced with Emirates Airlines’ inaugural service linking the two cities kicking off over the weekend. Flight EK450, operated by Boeing 777-300ER A6-ECV, arrived at Auckland Airport at 0942 on Friday morning, following its seven hour journey from Denpasar Ngurah Rai International Airport. The aircraft, which has