The World of Aviation

More than 900 aviation executives and media have descended on the Mexican resort city of Cancun eager to get the latest insights on the future of an industry facing an uncertain geopolitical picture, a few jittery economies and how airlines are responding to the recent actions from the United States on passenger security. The International

Sir Angus Houston will remain as chair of the Airservices board until at least June 2018 after the federal government extended his term by one year. The former Chief of Defence Force and Chief of Air Force was appointed to the Airservices board in December 2011 and was made chairman in June the following year.

Airservices says the recently activated Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) at Melbourne Airport will reduce flight disruptions and improve airport capacity. Melbourne Airport has become the second airport in Australia – and indeed in the southern hemisphere – to feature GBAS, a satellite-based precision approach and landing system that allows aircraft equipped with the necessary

Qantas has included the nation’s most famous (or infamous according to some overseas visitors) breakfast spread Vegemite in its shortlist of potential names for its Boeing 787-9 fleet that also features a grab bag of prominent Australians, some “Great” landmarks and a smattering of local wildlife. The 20-strong shortlist, based on input from the travelling public,

Defence has signed a $37.5 million contract with Lockheed Martin Australia to provide the Royal Australian Air Force with deployable mission system equipment, primarily for the F-35A Lightning II. Lockheed Martin is working with Newcastle-based Varley Group to deliver “transportable, secure and environmentally-controlled” Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) workspaces to enable connection to ALIS elsewhere

The AeroVironment Wasp AE has been chosen as the preferred option for the first tranche of the acquisition of a small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) capability for the Australian Defence Force. The man-packable Wasp AE micro air vehicle will be acquired through XTEK, and will be modified with Australian content by companies such as Sentient