JULY 5  2008
A "war-of-words" has erupted between the Cairns-based airline operator Aero Tropics and the OZ Government's aviation watchdog CASA after the regulator grounded the airline last week

CASA advised that two charter companies were to temporarily take over the routes normally serviced by Aero Tropics until all issues involved in grounding of the airline are resolved

 
The airline's CEO - Ric Lippman - says safety requirements are lower for charter operators than regular passenger services - "The aircraft are only required to be maintained to class B standards which is a much lower standard. So really the whole thing's quite farcical"

Meanwhile a Federal Court judge in Sydney has overturned the aviation watchdog's decision

JULY 4  2008
AvWeb reports on the AOPA article about the decline of GA in Australia who consider the 'culprits' to be over-regulation and selling-off to the private sector most of the smaller GA type airports where the commercial operators have hiked prices driving out the small flight schools and private owners

 
Overall the report notes that the recreational aircraft sector in Australia is booming with more than 4,000 recreational/sport aircraft and over 1,000 gliders "on the register" - "The less onerous regulatory requirements that are helping the recreational sector to grow need to be applied to traditional GA"

JULY 3  2008
NSW Police have reported in media that a single-engine Jake Special - "briefly became airborne when the pilot realised the aircraft was on fire" - He made an emergency landing about 500m south of the main runway

 
In 2003 Wyong Council helped Woolworths establish a $100 million distribution centre on part of the land that had been initially earmarked for an airport upgrade

JULY 2  2008
At the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa California where 330 of the 400 aircraft based there are single-engine recreational machines - flying is down by 25%

In the past three months aviation fuel has increased from $5.30 a gallon to $6.70 a gallon with the average flying machine using about 10 gallons per hour

 
“The biggest issue with the aviation gas (avgas) customers is that you see the impact there sooner than in the jet market. It is product that is not coming out of a corporate credit card; it’s coming out of their back pocket,” said Glenn Barrett, general manager of Kaiser Jet Center