According to news.com.au, Air France says it has filed a complaint after gold bars worth about 1.6 million euros ($A2.2 million) were stolen from a plane bound for Zurich from Paris.

“We hope the investigations will allow us to quickly determine the sequence of events and identify those responsible,” a spokesman said.

The gold bars, weighing about 50kg, were placed inside the plane at Paris’s Charles-de-Gaulle airport last Thursday by employees of the US security firm Brink’s.

It is as yet unclear how the theft happened, but an airport source said the robbers had ‘probably made use of airport accomplices’.

This kind of shipment takes place every day, and Brink’s employees always stay on the tarmac until the plane takes off.

According to Airbus’ latest Global Market Forecast (GMF), air traffic will grow at 4.7 per cent annually over the next 20 years requiring more than 29,220 new passenger and freighter aircraft.

The total of aircraft will be valued at nearly US$4.4 trillion.

Economic growth, growing middle classes, affordability, ease of travel, urbanisation, tourism, and migration are some factors adding to the required increase to the fleet.

Increasing urbanisation will lead to a doubling of mega cities from 42 today to 89 by 2032, and 99 per cent of the world’s long-haul traffic will be between or through these.

Traffic growth has led to average aircraft size ‘growing’ by 25 per cent with airlines selecting larger aircraft or up-sizing existing backlogs.

A focus on sustainable growth enabled fuel burn and noise reductions of at least 70 per cent in the last 40 years and this trend continues with innovations like the A320neo, the A320 Sharklet, the A380 and the A350 XWB.

“By 2032, Asia-Pacific will lead the world in traffic overtaking Europe and North America.

Domestic flights are also set to rise strongly with domestic India growing at the fastest rate (nearly 10 per cent), followed by China and Brazil (seven per cent).

The attraction of air travel means that passenger numbers will more than double from today’s 2.9 billion, to 6.7 billion by 2032, clearly demonstrating aviation’s essential role in economic growth,” said John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer – Customers.

Perth to Melbourne Flight Options for the 2013 Grand Final

Airline                                  Wednesday 25                  Thursday 26                       Friday 27

Qantas  Direct                       $1013                               $1113                               $1013

Qantas Business                    $1859                              $1859                               $1859

Qantas Via Sydney                 $650                                $1207                               $1234

Virgin                                    $805                                Sold Out                            $805

Virgin Business                      $1019                              Sold Out                            Sold Out

Virgin Via Syd/Bris                  $925                                $1012                               $1085   

Jetstar                                 $723                                 Sold Out                            $743

Jetstar Via Sydney                 $638                                 Sold Out                            Sold Out

Tigerair                                $589                                 Sold Out                            Sold Out

Flights with Tigerair and Jetstar are basic cost only. Baggage and food will be extra.

Prices correct as on Sunday 22 at noon. 

The loss of separation incident involving two Qantas A330s near Adelaide Australia on Friday September 19 serves to highlight the multiple levels of safety built into the airline industry today.

Qantas Flt 576 was heading from Perth to Sydney at 39,000ft when the Airbus A330’s pilots received an alert from the aircarft’s Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS).

It climbed to avoid Qantas Flt 581, which had been given an instruction from air traffic control to climb.

Flight 581, also an A330, was heading from Sydney to Perth at 38,000ft when its pilots asked for permission to climb.

That permission was given by Airservices Melbourne Air Traffic Control centre but was rescinded shortly afterwards when the error was apparently detected, but not before the TCAS alerts were activated.

Airservices ATC system also has an alert system called Short Term Conflict Alert but it is yet known if that activated.

While the aircraft came within 700ft of vertical separation it is yet to be determined what lateral separation they had.

The standard in Australia is 1000ft (305m) vertical and 5 nautical miles (9km) lateral.

Initially it was reported that the aircraft were on reciprocal tracks but some sources tell AirlineRatings.com that the aircraft may have been 1nm apart.

Qantas confirmed the incident and said its pilots followed ATC instructions.

Qantas chief pilot Phil Green said the airline was “full of praise for the pilots involved”.

“These pilots have years of experience and handled the 8situation exactly as they have been trained to,” Capt. Green said.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau the country’s crash investigator called the near miss “serious” and has started an investigation.

Australia has had 53 serious loss of separation incidents in the past 10 years.

TCAS was developed through the 70s and 80s and became mandated in the 1990s.

All commercial aircraft seating more than 30 passengers (In some countries 19) must have TCAS fitted.

To read how it works see here.

News.com.au interviewed a baggage handler who revealed the truth about his job and this is what he had to say.

For the full story: http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advisor/confessions-of-an-airport-baggage-handler/story-fn6yjmoc-1226722639048#ixzz2fOntYWu1

What’s the most common cause of lost baggage?

The most common cause of lost luggage is when people check in their bags at the very last minute. Another common occasion is when people transfer between flights.

Sometimes it looks like bags get rough treatment – do baggage handlers ever break stuff on purpose?

Yes, sometimes we make a game out of it. In the hold of the plane we would throw the suitcases to each other, from the belt to stacking them up.

We throw them to each other as hard as we can.

We don’t want to break the bags or cases, but you can imagine it’s not exactly beneficial to the bag, so sometimes handles might break – especially as the more expensive suitcases, like Louis Vuitton, aren’t very robust.

What’s the worst thing about being a baggage handler?

The worst thing is loading planes in high temperatures in the summer. Because of the tarmac, it really feels like it’s 50C, but we still have to work even then. It gets especially hot when you’re in the hold of the plane and you have to be very precise with the way you stack the bags, to make sure that they all fit in the plane.

You have to imagine that an average suitcase weighs about 30 kilograms and that we normally have to load about 200 bags.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen someone trying to transport on a plane?

We sometimes handle unusual items, for example, a pole vault and a big canoe, but the strangest thing was probably a walking stick with a dagger hidden in it. After a thorough inspection by customs it was allowed to on the plane (in the hold).

How often do things get stolen from bags?

I have only experienced this once. We see quite a lot of professional football teams going through the airport for international Champions League and Europa League football matches and once the guys who loaded the bags into the plane got hold of a captain’s arm band of a famous club. Apart from that I’ve never experienced any instances of anything like that.

Do baggage handlers ever purposely put bags on the wrong flight?

No, I have never seen this happening (at least not on purpose).

What’s the best thing about being a baggage handler?

At the airport where I work there are a lot of young students, which makes it great fun. Furthermore it is a good opportunity to look at the ladies, especially in the summer. After loading a plane you have time for this …!

The most satisfactory part of the job however is making sure that you make the turnaround time of the plane. We have to unload and load a plane in a minimum amount of time, so to make the slots is very important. If you manage to do this with the team, it’s very satisfying.

I also enjoy working outdoors and working with sophisticated equipment and technology, like the aeroplane itself. Baggage handlers love planes.

Germany’s Lufthansa has become the launch customer for the Boeing 777X with an order for 34 of the aircraft which will burn up 25 per cent less fuel than the aircraft they replace.

Lufthansa also ordered 25 Airbus A350-900s touting that the two aircraft will also cut the noise footprint by at least 30 per cent and offer a 20 per cent decrease in unit costs (costs per seat-kilometre).

These savings will both bring down fares and will also be great news for airport communities.

Lufthansa said that following a recommendation by the Deutsche Lufthansa AG Executive Board headed by Dr Christoph Franz, the Supervisory Board approved the purchase of 59 ultra-modern aircraft for the Group at its meeting on Wednesday September 18.

The first of these new aircraft will be delivered as early as 2016.

Older Boeing 747-400s and Airbus A340-300s will be phased out by 2025. The new aircraft will primarily serve to replace existing aircraft at Lufthansa.

The investment amount for the Lufthansa Group’s latest order totals €14 billion (US$18.9 billion) at list prices and is the largest single private-sector investment in the history of German industry.

“This investment will safeguard about 13,000 jobs at Lufthansa alone as well as thousands of jobs at our partners in aviation and other suppliers”, said Christoph Franz, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of the Lufthansa Group, explaining the macroeconomic significance of the investment at a press conference in Frankfurt.

This investment in new technology, efficiency and customer comfort is a continuation of the ongoing fleet modernization that is taking place at the Group’s airlines.

Lufthansa operates a wide-body fleet of around 107 aircraft, among them ten ultra-modern Airbus A380s and nine Boeing 747-8s as well as the Airbus A330-300 (18 aircraft). The fleet also includes Airbus A340s (48) and Boeing 747-400s (22). In addition to these, the Group subsidiary Swiss has 31 wide-body aeroplanes, while Austrian Airlines’ wide-body fleet consists of 12 aircraft.

“Less fuel consumption, less CO2 emissions and less noise: The aircraft on order will enable us to make a quantum leap in efficiency and to enter the 2-litre class”, commented Christoph Franz.

No other aircraft type will fly as economically as the A350-900 and the Boeing 777-9X in terms of kerosene consumption per passenger and 100 kilometres flown.

The order underscores the company’s desire to invest in the latest technology to help the environment. The 59 new aircraft will consume an average of just 2.9 litres of kerosene per passenger and 100 kilometres flown.

That is around 25 per cent less than aircraft available today and it will have a positive impact on the Group’s carbon footprint. Unit costs will sink by approximately 20 per cent compared with predecessor models.

Boeing is expected to launch both the 777-9X and -8X at the Dubai Air Show in November.