Ploynesian Blue has been formally relaunched as Virgin Samoa as the airline’s 737 touched down in Apia today featuring its new Virgin Australia-style livery and interior. The airline’s 737-800, ZK-PBF Tapu’itea, flew into Samoa from Auckland today, after being repainted and having its interior upgraded by Air New Zealand. “Today we take the national airline of
International partners in the F-35 JSF program are set to meet with US Defense officials in Washington next week to express their dissatisfaction at the continual slowdown in US service acquisition numbers. Many of the partners slated to buy F-35s early in the production run – including Canada, Australia and Italy – reportedly are disappointed
Construction of a new $11.5 million aviation fire fighting training ground at Melbourne Airport in underway. The ‘hot fire’ training facility will be the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere, with more than 250 fire fighters expected to pass through each year, Airservices Australia says. The centrepiece of the 15,000sqm training ground
Repairing a flaw in the fuselage of the 787 Dreamliner could take up to two weeks per plane, Boeing said on Thursday in a development that could hamper plans to ramp up production of the long delayed airliner. Boeing disclosed the problem earlier this month, saying incorrect shimming had led to de-lamination of a section
Lockheed Martin says it is preparing to dramatically increase flight testing of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter this year, with plans including the first firing of live weapons. In a progress report released today, Lockheed said the F-35 had conducted 114 flight tests for the year through to February 20, with plans for at least
Air New Zealand will cut 441 jobs after profits fell 61 per cent over the first half of the financial year. The carrier today reported net profits of NZ$38 million (A$29.9m) for the six months ending December 31, down from NZ$98 million for the same period the previous year. Revenues were up 2.5 per cent
