Solar fuels, the first electric flight between airports and more (The Allplane Newsletter #98)
Electric Aviation
Harbour Air completed what is, apparently, the first all electric commercial flight between two different airports (between Vancouver and Victoria international airports, in British Columbia, Canada). LINK.
Advanced Air Mobility
Nice video footage of the Archer Maker eVTOL. LINK.
The AIRO Group, parent company of Jaunt Air Mobility, is going public. LINK.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
Swiss solar fuels startup Synhelion has produced for the first time synthetic kerosene at industrial scale at a DLR facility in Jülich, Germany. The plant produces SAF by using solar heat from a field of mirrors. A lot more of this type of plants are going to be needed if Europe has to meet the synthetic fuel targets set by the EU in its ReFuelEU Aviation initiative. LINK.
Alaska Airlines has launched a new programme to facilitate the purchase of SAF credits to its corporate customers, which include the likes of Boeing and Microsoft. LINK.
Hydrogen Aviation
Airports Council International (ACI) and the UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) have published a comprehensive, concise report on the hydrogen economy for aviation. LINK.
Cranfield Aerospace has secured 14.4 pounds of investment (c. $17M) to develop its hydrogen propulsion projects. Cranfield Aerospace is a commercial spin-off of the aerospace university of the same name, although both are separate entities. LINK.
McKinsey’s Robin Riedel interviews ZeroAvia’s founder Val Miftakhov. VIDEO.
A balanced view on the prospects of hydrogen aviation by Jon Sindreu, on the WSJ.
What else in aviation?
American Airlines placed a deposit for 20 Boom Overture supersonic airliners (plus 40 options). So it is now two of the US largest carriers that have expressed their interest in this new generation of supersonic aircraft (which don’t seem to have the engine sorted, though). LINK.
Malaysia Airlines is ordering 20 A330neos in what appears to be the first post-Farnborough large aircraft order. LINK.
An article that quantifies the effects of the war on Russia’s commercial aviation industry: a reduction of 20% in domestic air movements and nearly 50% of international ones. Also, 12 airports are closed since they are in closed airspace areas and several thousand air traffic control staff are on reduced work schedules. LINK (in Russian).
Aero, a startup offering so-called “semi-private flights”, or group-chartered flights on ERJ135 aircraft with a concierge service, just raised a $65M Series B round. LINK.
Tailwind launched the first scheduled seaplane service between New York City and Washington DC. LINK.
How Norse Atlantic is building a feeder network by partnering with other LCCs. LINK.
New airlines update. LINK.