New aircraft factories, shiny-new A350s & more (The Allplane Newsletter #138)
Here’s a recap of the latest developments in sustainable flight and elsewhere in the aviation industry
Electric Aviation
Rolls-Royce announced that its newly unveiled hybrid-electric engine has completed its first successful fuel burn.
VoltAero started the construction of its new factory in Rochefort, in western France. The French startup had completed the first flight using 100% SAF (on its combustion engine part of the system) just a few days earlier.
For more on VoltAero, check this video from the Paris Air Show with a close look at the Casio 330 aircraft and its cabin
Embraer’s partnership with Japanese company Nidec to develop electric propulsion systems has received all necessary regulatory approvals.
Advanced Air Mobility
Beta Aerospace opened its first industrial-scale production facility in Vermont for the manufacture of its Alia eVTOL. This is the first industrial facility of this sort to open in the US.
Joby completed its first crewed flight!
This is an interesting eVTOL concept, out of Germany, that I was not familiar with. The CycloRotor technology looks…intriguing, to say the least!
Wisk is testing its eVTOL in Los Angeles. To learn more about Wisk, Boeing’s eVTOL subsidiary, check out this piece from the latest Paris Air Show.
REGENT Craft closed a $60M funding round and inked its partnership with Japan Airlines. Japan may be one of the first places to see Seaglider ground-effect vehicles in action. READ.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
Shell is going to supply 300,000 gallons of SAF to Emirates through DXB airport supply system.
A Bloomberg piece about US airlines not being very enthusiastic about SAF (or about it’s higher cost, to be more exact). United Airlines singled out here, despite some recent initaitives like its sustainability investment fund.
Other sustainable aviation news
ANA will have a green-liveried Dash-8 turboprop. The Japanese airline will test also some new tech onboard and add some recyclable items to the cabin.
What else in aviation?
IATA World Sustainability Symposium took place in Madrid, gathering a good cross-section of the aviation sustainability scene. Here’s the chronicle.
Air NZ now allows passengers to track where their bags are in real time as they go through the handling system. Pretty cool.
Japan Airlines unveiled the interiors of its up and coming A350-1000s, which will be delivered this Q4.
And Air India showed images of its new A350 fresh from the paint shop.
Air France turned 90 and Czech airline CSA (now a shelf of its former self), 100!
Alaska Airlines and UP.Labs aim to launch at least six startups in the coming three years. I spoke with UP.Labs president to find out more.
Pegasus welcomed its 100th aircraft.
Air Malta is going to be folded and a new airline will be launched in its place. In practical terms, not much will change, though, mostly a legal change, with assets being transferred to a new, clean-sheet entity.