Blended Wing Body, NFTs and more (The Allplane Newsletter #94)
New podcast episode
Kemal Ahmed, of SITA for Aircraft, shares some insights about how big data and smart tech can help airlines save tons of fuel, time and emissions. This is the 4th chapter of the series about aviation tech, done in partnership with SITA. LISTEN
Electric Aviation
A regulatory-administrative mishap has prevented VoltAero from sending its Cassio demonstrator to the Netherlands for a little exhibition tour. LINK.
Hydrogen Aviation
Evia Aero, a German startup regional airline that positions itself as climate-neutral, carbon-free carrier, has ordered 10 fuel cell conversion kits for Britten Norman BN2 aircraft from Cranfield Aerospace. LINK.
(Cranfield Aerospace is the commercial arm of the famous aerospace university, as we commented recently in this podcast with Keith Mason, head of Cranfield’s Air Transport Management Centre)
Universal Hydrogen first test aircraft is ready to go, as twitted by JetBlue Ventures (photo).
Lufthansa Technik may be using a recently retired A320 as a hydrogen testbed. LINK.
ZeroAvia is looking for locations to build its hydrogen powertrains. LINK.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
Alaska Airlines, Microsoft and Twelve just announced a joint MOU to power a commercial flight using synthetic fuels. Twelve, which recently closed a $130M funding round, uses CO2, water and renewable energy to make fuel. LINK.
Aer Lingus, which has committed to 10% SAF intake by 2030, is purchasing 19,000 tons of SAF per year from Gevo. This SAF is going to be used on flights between Ireland and California. LINK.
Other interesting stuff in Sustainable Flight
“Making net zero aviation possible” a comprehensive report with inputs from the likes of McKinsey and the World Economic Forum, the Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition and the Energy Transitions Commission. To those that follow this space, what’s proposed here won’t be new in its essence (basically a combination of efficiency gains, massive SAF production and uptake increases and hydrogen propulsion in the longer term), but here you have a document of reference, presented in a very detailed, rigorous way and readable way. You can download it here.
And here’s another summary of the path to aviation decarbonization, in this case in infographic form and published by consulting firm Bain. Great visualization of the different options available to make aviation more sustainable with currently available technologies (although I found hydrogen gas turbines missing, the pros and cons of this option have been the object of another series of interesting posts on Bjorn’s Corner). LINK.
The US Department of Defense is looking to build a Blended Wing Body aircraft that, among other things, will reduce fuel burn by 60%. Military research has always been a fator in spurring innovation. LINK.
What else in aviation?
FLYR Labs has acquired Barcelona-based Newshore, which specializes in developing software solutions for airlines, such as internet booking engines and disruption management applications. LINK.
“Six secrets of profitable airlines” a short, concise and interesting report by McKinsey (hint: it’s (mostly) about ancillaries). LINK.
Etihad joins the NFT space and mints its own. LINK.
New article on The Points Guy: did you know that, in addition to operating one of the world’s busiest hubs at Istanbul’s new airport, Turkish Airlines runs another, mostly seasonal, network that bypasses IST completely and links several cities throughout Turkey to international destinations. LINK.