Lilium on NASDAQ, United buys SAF, BA blue jet...(Allplane Newsletter #61)
Picture: Rolls-Royce
Let’s start by looking at the intersection of airlines, technology & sustainability!
Oneworld has announced its commitment to 2050 net zero and its path towards that goal
And within Oneworld, British Airways presented its green strategy going forward, which involved an eye-catching…blue plane! as well as a new voluntary sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) purchase programme
Sustainable Aviation Fuel gaining momentum in America:
United Airlines announced a deal to purchase 1.5B gallons of SAF from Alder Biofuels, over a 20 year period. This is apparently the largest SAF order in history to this date. The project involves also the use of Ecofining™ technology, developed by Honeywell, to streamline the production of SAF.
The White House presented its initiative to reduce aviation’s emissions by 20% by the end of this decade, with tax credits for sustainable aviation fuel being its star measure.
By the way, I can announce that we are going to have an episode on the podcast soon with a very senior professional at one of the world’s leading firms!
While new forms of technology mature, some airlines are looking for alternative ways to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions through optimization of existing processes. This is the case of Japanese airline ANA, which that has multiple ongoing initiatives in the field of sustainability. In this case, it is about getting rid of unnecessary weight by doing away with the dry ice used to cool beverages and replacing it with a different materials
Airbus has enrolled Air New Zealand as a partner for hydrogen programme
The Galapagos archipelago boasts what is considered to be one of the most sustainably run airports in the world and last month it announced a deal with New Zealand-based CarbonClick to help passengers offset their carbon footprint. The concept itself is not new, but CarbonClick’s user-friendly, transparent way of doing it is well worth a look
eVTOL Department
Lilium got listed on NASDAQ…via SPAC, like some of its most prominent competitors have been doing earlier this year.
Embraer’s Eve is expanding through partnerships with local operators, the latest, in Australia, where it expects to launch in 2026.
Electric flight
Rolls-Royce has successfully flown its all-electric “Spirit of Innovation” for about 15 minutes. This is a plane designed to break speed records in all-electric flight
A charger for electric planes called SKYCHARGE and developed by Swiss firm Green Motion and Pipistrel has been approved by EASA
Wright Electric is testing 2MW electric motors. Interesting because unlike many other electric flight startups, Wright is targeting the mid-sized narrow body airliner market, the backbone of most airline fleets. Quite a tall order!
KittyHawk to conduct first flight of its Heaviside automated eVTOL with its founder onboard. Here is a nice profile of this startup, that has some very prominent backers from the technology world.
And here’s an interesting KittyHawk pic.
SAAB is adding its technological clout to the efforts to decarbonize aviation. The Swedish firm will contribute, together with GKN Aerospace and several academic institutions, to the studies to achieve fossil free aviation in the Nordics, a region that is already heading efforts in this space.
Check out this podcast episode to learn more about the green aviation landscape in the Nordics
Pretty intense days for Virgin Galactic, which had a listing via SPAC, announced a new flight, a scientific research mission in cooperation with the Italian Air Force, and then, soon after got (temporarily) grounded by the FAA (due apparently to some mishaps during an earlier flight)
Air France unveiled a new stylish lounge at its Paris CDG hub. Check it out here.
Russian charter airline Azur Air presented its black-liveried VIP Boeing 757. An interesting product shift considering its core business is flying tourists to sand and sea holiday resorts! Here’s a nice video tour.
Updates in the list of new airlines of 2021.