B747 is out, A380 is back & more (The Allplane Newsletter #110)
New Podcast Episode
Stephen Snyder is the managing director fo JetBlue Ventures, one of the most prominent VC firms in aviation and travel. We talk about entrepreneurship and investment in sustainable aviation and how an in-house airline VC firm can have strategic value for aviation entrepreneurs. LISTEN.
Sustainable Aviation News
Electric Aviation
Embraer presented the concepts for its future Energia family of electric and hybrid aircraft. CHECK THEM HERE.
Can an international airport run on the solar power it generates? Michael Barnard has looked into this matter. THE ANSWER.
Check also the podcast we did with Michael a few weeks ago!
Richard Wang, of Cuberg (& who was also on the podcast) is one TIME magazine talking about the future of batteries for electric aircraft. READ.
Ampaire has won a $150k from NASA for its High Efficiency Powertrain for Hybrid Aircraft (HEPHA). READ.
Advanced Air Mobility
Archer’s founder Brett Adcock shared some thoughts on twitter about the technical advantages of electric aviation and eVTOLs. READ.
The Volocopter certification process, explained. READ.
Canada-based VPorts aims to develop a $40M AAM center in Dubai. The facility will concentrate a number of activities, from testing to research and industrial activities connected to advanced air mobility. READ.
Interesting McKinsey’s report (co-authored by Robin Riedel) about the software aspects of the expected eVTOL revolution and the opportunity it represents. Also the interesting data point: airlines spend about $50B annually in software solutions globally. READ.
Lilium is launching a 50 unit run of a special edition Lilium Pioneer Edition Jet with extra customization and exclusive features. LINK.
Hydrogen Aviation
Video of how a Universal Hydrogen capsule is loaded into an aircraft:
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
Interesting thoughts, as usual, from Patrick Edmond on e-Fuels development. READ.
Virgin Atlantic is getting 10M gallons of SAF over next seven years. As it happens with many other airlines, the fuel is going to be taken in at Californian airports. READ.
Other interesting stories in sustainable aviation
Lighter than Air (LTA) Research, a company linked to Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin, is getting ready to test its new generation airship. READ.
And for more on airships, check out the podcast we did with HVA’s CEO Tom Grundy!
What else in aviation?
The very last Boeing 747 to be built left the assembly line. This B747-8F marks the end of a half-a-century era. It will be delivered to Atlas Air in early 2023. PICS.
And if the Queen of the Skies is entering its closing chapter, the A380 is experimenting a sort of revival. Etihad is the latest airline to announce the comeback of the double-decker! READ.
Btw, in 2014 I had the chance to attend the roll out of Etihad’s first A380 (which was also the presentation of its current livery and branding). SEE IT HERE.
Emirates opened its first Emirates World store in Dubai. The store sells all sorts of experiences and merchandise connected with the airline. Emirates plans to roll these stores out across its network in three different formats (varying in their size and scope). Once upon a time, and until the arrival of the internet, airlines had shops in the high street. Have we come full circle? LINK.
A glimpse on CNN of Riyadh’s projected new airport: 6 parallel runways and capacity for 185M passengers. READ.
Warning shot from American Airlines towards the travel management companies (TMC). They have until April to get up to speed with NDC distribution. READ.
airBaltic has sent one of its A220s on a tour of Africa and to support Airbus promotion activities there. Quite an unusual sight, to see the Latvian airline’s bright green-yellow livery in the tropics! READ.
Air Greenland got its first A330neo-800, a relatively rare version of this aircraft type. It looks awesome in its all-red livery! PICS HERE.
Picture: Airbus
Some new airlines have been announced. READ.