Aviation Expo - Brisbane Airport

Aviation Australia has once again put on an aviation expo held at Brisbane Airport.

Aviation Australia is a world class, registered training organisation, established by the Queensland State Government in 2001 to support the development and growth of aviation and aerospace industries in both the Australian and international markets.

The aircraft static display, although a little disappointing, was once again a major attraction, featuring a range of iconic aircraft that visitors had the unique opportunity to experience up close.

The Aviation Expo also featured dozens of exhibitors from the aviation, defence and education industries who inspired and educated visitors about how to launch into a career in aviation.

There were so many activities for visitors to experience, including cabin crew evacuations, avionics demonstrations, insight into an operational hangar environment, roving entertainment and careers seminars.

The only way to get to the static display, which was on the logistics apron, was by bus. You couldn't walk in. So as soon as we arrived, we headed to the bus pick up area and lined up for the bus. Once on the apron, we headed to the RAAF C 27 Spartan. After waiting for almost an hour we went through the Spartan, once done, we lined up again for another hour fifteen to go through the Alliance E 190.

Then we walked around looking at all the other aircraft on display. The great thing about being there was we got to see the departing aircraft as well, so the best of both worlds.

RAAF ALENIA C27J SPARTAN A34-003 (MSN 4182/AUS03)

ALLIANCE ERJ-190-100 VH-UYW (MSN 19000174)

GENERAL ELECTRIC GE34-10E6

AEROPRAKT A-32 VIXXEN 23-8770 (MSN 017)

CESSNA 172 SKYHAWK VH-LXA (MSN 172-80906)

CESSNA 182K VH-SFH (MSN 182-57749)

TECNAM P2010 VH-TVJ (MSN 149)

TECNAM P MENTOR VH-TMG (MSN 1030)

GENERAL AVIA F.22R VH-PIQ (MSN 021)

SLING 2    23-9954 (MSN 254)

SLING 4 VH-VWY (MSN 311SK)

CESSNA 172S SKYHAWK SP VH-RAQ (MSN 172S-9798)

CIRRUS SR22 VH-MSF (MSN 0153)

PIPER PA 31P VH-UAA (MSN 31P-7530009)

BEECH C90 VH-CFO (MSN LJ510)

CESSNA 182Q VH-IBZ (MSN 182-67708)

PIPER-44-180 VH-PVG (MSN 4496118)

ROBINSON R22 BETA VH-HVA (MSN 3914)

ROBINSON R44 VH-BZX (MSN 1132)

AUGUSTAWESTLAND AW139 VH-XIL (MSN 41411)

EMIRATES AIRBUS A380-861 A6-EOC (MSN 165)
TOLL BOEING 737-484F ZK-TLL (MSN 25362)

AIR CANADA BOEING 787-9 C-FRSA (MSN 37175)

QANTAS DASH 8 Q400 VH-QOH (MSN 4132)

PHILIPPINE AIRBUS A321-271 RP-C9936 (MSN 8619)

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-7K2 VH-NHW (MSN 39257)

QANTAS AIRBUS A330-303 VH-QPI (MSN 0705)

RAAF DASSAULT FALCON 7 X A56-001 (MSN 283)

CHINA AIRLINES AIRBUS A350-941 B-18915 (MSN 179)

AIR NEW ZEALAND BOEING 777-319 ZK-OKQ (MSN 40689)

REX BOEING 737-8FE VH-RYU (MSN 33794)

SINGAPORE AIRLINES A350-941 9V-SHU (MSN 469)

Pakistan Airlines plane seized in Malaysia over non-payment of dues:

Pakistan, which is facing a severe cash crunch, has faced an embarrassing situation as its national carrier's plane has been sized in Malaysia over non-payments. 

The Boeing 777-200 operated flight PK894 between Islamabad, Pakistan (ISB/OPIS) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (KUL/WMKK) on the 29th of May, but the return flight didn’t operate. Sources on the media indicate that a local court decided to impound the aircraft over a payment dispute between PIA and the aircraft’s lessor.

This is the second time the PIA aircraft has been seized in Malaysia over a dues issue. The same aircraft was seized by the Kuala Lumpur airport authorities in 2021 on the same issue. Later, the plane was released on diplomatic assurance about the payment of dues. The seized plane was brought back to Pakistan on the 27th of January along with 173 passengers and crew members on board.

Pakistan is in the middle of a serious economic crisis as its forex reserves have dropped significantly, affecting various services abroad and hitting imports. In February, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the foreign ministry to slash the number of missions abroad and reduce their offices, staff and initiate other measures to cut down expenditures of the debt-ridden nation by 15 per cent.

Aircraft Information:

Pakistan International Airlines

Code: PK/PIA

Aircraft: Boeing 777-2Q8

Registration: AP-BMH

Serial Number: 32717

Engines: 2 x GE GE90-94B

First Flew: 30th November 2005

Age 17 Yrs 5 Mts
 

Air New Zealand now weighing passengers before they board flights

AIR NEW ZEALAND DASH 8 Q300 ZK-NEA (MSN 611)

Air New Zealand are now asking passengers to step on a scale before they board some flights out of Auckland International Airport, according to the airline.

The carrier is implementing the new boarding procedure in order to better balance weight across an aircraft on international flights, it said in a statement. Knowing an aircraft's weight is also key to calculating fuel consumption, while having more precise information about a traveler's weight can make for a safer flight, the airline said.

"They have nothing to worry about," Air New Zealand load control improvement specialist Alastair James assured passengers in a video announcing the measure, which is part of a periodic survey.

"For safety reasons, we need to know the weight of all items onboard the aircraft. For passengers, crew and carry on bags, we use average weights that we get every five years through this survey," Air New Zealand said in a statement.

The move complies with the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand's rules governing aircraft operations, which state that operators must establish "the total weight of passengers and their carry-on baggage."

"It's a regulatory requirement for us to know the weight of everything that goes on the aircraft. From the cargo to the meals on board to the luggage in the hold," James said in the video. "By weighing in, you'll be helping us fly safely and efficiently every time."

Notably, neither passengers themselves nor airline personnel can see a traveler's weight; rather, the number is fed directly into a computer and recorded anonymously. The data also isn't assigned to a passenger's name or profile in a database. Participation is entirely voluntary, according to Air New Zealand.

An Air New Zealand passenger steps on a scale to be weighed before a flight leaving from Auckland International Airport. Photo AIR NEW ZEALAND

The weighing process, which takes place at a plane's departure gate, will not delay any flights, the carrier said. In total, the airline in June will ask more than 10,000 customers traveling internationally to participate in the weight survey.

The first passengers were weighed on Monday as part of the survey, which will run through July 2. It's not the first time Air New Zealand has asked customers to step on the scale in the name of safety.

Customers flying domestically were also weighed in 2021, the airline said. "Now that international travel is back up and running, it's time for international flyers to weigh in."

Budget airline Bonza eyes expansion, rules out cutting struggling routes

BONZA BOEING 737 MAX 8 VH-UJT (MSN 62533) 

Four months on from Bonza's delayed launch, the budget airline is preparing to expand to a third base as it hopes to buck the trend of failed regional and low-cost carriers. The Sunshine Coast-based budget airline has been rolling out new routes since February and now flies to 17 mostly regional destinations, with 25 of the 27 routes not flown by other airlines.

Bonza's second hub is in Melbourne, but Bonza chief executive Tim Jordan said strong demand was causing the carrier to look for another base.

"We're certainly looking at growth opportunities in other bases, and also in existing bases, later this year," he said.

Australia has a history of budget and regional carriers that have failed, including Tigerair, JetGo, Compass and OzJet.

Veteran aviation analyst Peter Harbison said the key to low-cost airlines surviving was correcting mistakes quickly.

"You have to watch very, very closely whether something's working or not," he said.

"… There's only a limited period where you want to be losing money on a particular route."

Mr Harbison said Bonza was an "unusual" budget airline because it avoided busy routes such as Sydney to Melbourne in favour of regional destinations such as Mackay, Mildura and Coffs Harbour.

"They're generating new business basically," he said.

But he said it was hard to assess Bonza's progress because "there's not much transparency".

"You hear every now and again that this flight or that flight left nearly full, but they're keeping it pretty close to their chest," Mr Harbison said.

John Sharp, the deputy chairman of competing regional airline Rex, agreed it was hard to comment on Bonza because they were not a publicly listed company and did not publish their data.

A spokesman for Jetstar said the budget airline had been flying for 19 years and "remains committed to being Australia's low fares leader".

Based on available data, the ABC has calculated that Bonza's planes are about 75 per cent full on average, which is below the 90 per cent target set by Bonza's US owner.

In January, the 777 Partners founder Steve Pasko said the airline needed to operate at near-capacity to maintain profitability, which he predicted would come in the second year of flying.

Mr Harbison said the airline needed to expand to new routes to keep their planes in the air longer.

"If you can keep those aircraft flying for 12 to 15 hours a day, then the unit cost comes down considerably," he said.

"But if they don't have enough routes to fly the aircraft, then that unit cost goes up considerably, and so their break-even cost goes up."

Bonza is not yet selling tickets for flights past October, but Mr Jordan said the airline would release its schedule covering Christmas and the summer holidays "within weeks".

While some route frequency and timing will change, he sought to assure travellers that no routes would be "imminently" cut. "What we're trying to do is make sure that we give ourselves the maximum amount of time to learn … and then to reflect that in the schedule going forward," Mr Jordan

"It's unreasonable to judge markets when they've only been operating a number of weeks.

"We may need to add capacity or there may be too much capacity in certain areas."

Mr Jordan said the longer routes had generally been more popular than the shorter routes, which required convincing people to "break a habit" of driving.

Analyst Mr Harbison nominated Newcastle as an option for Bonza's third hub because the region had a "big catchment".

"It's certainly an ideal spot," he said.

"… Because it does tap that whole Hunter region as well as Northern Sydney all the way up the Central Coast."

A spokesperson for Newcastle Airport said they would "welcome any conversation around establishing airline bases at our airport".

"We look forward to supporting Bonza to grow, and we will welcome conversations to form a strategic partnership when the time comes," the spokesperson said.

Bonza has previously ruled out flying to Sydney Airport because the fees are way too expensive and landing slots are too scarce.




Story sourced from here
Sunshine Coast budget airline Bonza eyes expansion, rules out cutting struggling routes - ABC News