Net Zero goals, Etihad's Greenliner, Air Belgium & more (Allplane Newsletter #63)
There are 3 New episodes of the Allplane podcast available for listening!
Robin Riedel, who leads the Disruptive Aerospace Sector at McKinsey, shared his insights about advanced air mobility and sustainability. These are two topics that this top strategy consulting firm has been following from up close. A fascinating, wide-ranging chat!
The Allplane Podcast #47 - Sustainable aviation insights, with Robin Riedel of McKinsey
Jonathan Wood, VP Renewable Aviation at Finnish energy firm Neste, the leader in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) dissected the state of the SAF industry and its future perspectives.
The Allplane Podcast #48 - Sustainable Aviation Fuel, with Jonathan Wood (Neste)
Chris Fernando and Basil Yap, co-founders of Hovecon and hosts of the No U-Turn Podcast (in addition to participants in many other initiatives in the field of advanced air mobility) were in the podcast to share their views about the eVTOL and advanced air mobility space.
The Allplane Podcast #49 - the world of eVTOLs, with Chris Fernando & Basil Yap (Hovecon)
Sustainable Aviation
Let’s have a look at the intersection of airlines, airports & sustainability!
At the IATA Annual Assembly, which took place in Boston this year, a large swathe of the global airline industry formally committed to achieve Net Zero by 2050. You can find the declaration by the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) here.
Volotea and Air Nostrum provided more information about the electric aircraft concept they are working on jointly with Dante Aeronautical and a handful of other partners. Perhaps the most interesting part is the infographic they included in the latest press release.
Check out also the podcast we did with Dante Aeronautical co-founder David Doral
The FAA has published the additional requirements that an electric engine of the sorts being developed by magniX must meet. The standing regulations did not cover this new technology adequately, so this document clarifies the regulatory framework.
Check out the podcast we did with magniX CEO, Roei Ganzarski.
You can now book a regular commercial flight on Etihad’s ecoDemonstrator. This is a Boeing 787 that has served as a test bank for a number of technologies that aim to make flying more sustainable. The flight, between London and Abu Dhabi on 23rd October marks the second anniversary of the Etihad Greenliner Programme
Lufthansa is investing in the production of e-fuels (synthetic sustainable aviation fuel) in Northern Germany. The plant will be operated by German firm atmosfair gGmbH and Lufthansa Cargo and logistics operator Kuehne+Nagel will procure 25,000l. of the stuff over the next five years.
Another airline of the Lufthansa Group, Swiss, has a similar partnership with Swiss-based synthetic SAF producer Synhelion - check out the podcast we did about this!
And, meanwhile, Synhelion has got also some news: the Swiss company acquired the German concentrated solar power technology producer Heliokon. The production of sustainable aviation fuel is one of the applications (although not the only one) of this technology.
eVTOL Department
Honda is working on its own eVTOL, you can read the story on eVTOL.com here and there is also this video.
One more case of a car makers getting into the advanced air mobility space, I wrote about this phenomenon for CNN a while ago.
Some more aviation stories…
Last week we got news that Northern Pacific Airways has secured its first six aircraft for its fleet, a new startup airline that aims to connect the US and Asia via Alaska. They just released their website.
South African Airways is back, with a reduced fleet and schedule.
Updates in the list of new airlines of 2021 and airline bankruptcies as well…
Gulfstream announced two new executive jet models, the G400 and G800
Air Belgium got its first A330neo - nice livery!
Airline software firm FLYR has closed a C Round. This is one of the most solid tech projects in the airline world and they recently closed a deal with Amadeus to distribute their fintech (insurance) products to travellers, but its roots are in the booking space and it seems will continue to invest in this field.
As a side note, I had the chance to speak with its founder, Alexander Mans, when they were a much smaller startup, but had already a promising technology that I featured on this CNN article about air pricing trends.