JAL's first A350-1000 and much more (The Allplane Newsletter #142)
Electric Aviation
Maeve switched to a hybrid-electric 80-seat concept (vs the original all-elecric 44-seater). The startup is moving to Munich as well, from The Netherlands.
Air New Zealand confirmed the acquisition of its first Beta Technologies aircraft. For now is going to be the eCTOL version, though, and for cargo flights only.
The EcoPulse, a hybrid-electric aircraft developed jointly by Airbus, Daher and Safran, conducted its first, 100-min-long, flight test in southern France.
The Nordic Network for Electric Aviation has identified the most promising routes for electrification in Scandinavia, as part of a comprehensive report about the prospects of this propulsion technology in the region.
Progress at Rolls-Royce Electric, just as this division of the company is being sold away.
Ampaire’s EEL set a new endurance record for a hybrid-electric aircraft: 12 hours in air (and fuel left in the tank for two additional ones). READ.
Advanced Air Mobility
Momentous week for Lilium, with the start of production and the announcement of a partnership with Lufthansa.
Joby and its Japanese partner, ANA Holding (parent company of the airline), have partnered with Nomura Real Estate to develop vertiports.
An interesting profile of Spanish eVTOL developer Crisalion.
Not entirely unexpected: Paris’ 2024 eVTOL project is meeting some opposition from the public. eVTOLs are likely to face all sorts of regulatory and public opinion hurdles in Europe, which is why roll out at scale is likely to happen first in the Middle East, Asia or elsewhere.
The UK’s air traffic control organization, NATS, has successfully tested eVTOL operations between Bristol, Farnborough and London City Airport.
Amazing Archer Midnight flight test video.
Hydrogen Aviation
Piasecki is getting $37M dollars from the US military to continue the development of a number of projects in the VTOL space, including a UAS and the PA890, a rotorcraft powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. ZeroAvia is also a partner of the latter project, in particular in the development of fuel cells that can run at high temperatures.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
London Heathrow airport is extending a programme that helps airlines bridge the cost gap between SAF and normal jet fuel. £71m are allocated to this project, which aims to halve the cost gap and get LHR to 2.5% SAF use (overall the 2030 is to get to 11%!)
Nordic Aviation Capital and ATR will use 6% SAF on delivery flights of new turboprop aircraft.
Interesting, short read about the role of EASA in the implementation of the new European ReFuelEU legislation that mandates certain thresholds of SAF adoption over the coming years.
An interesting map of jet fuel pipeline in America (I must confess I was not aware there was a dedicated extensive fixed infrastructure!) and an equally interesting debate in the comments about whether these pipelines can be used to carry SAF.
Brussels Airlines will make all “party flights” taking revellers to the Tomorrowland festival 100% SAF flights. That doesn’t mean that the aircraft in question will have 100% SAF in the tanks, but that, through the fares, its passengers would cover the cost of acquiring the equivalent amount of SAF to be used somewhere in the airline’s network.
LanzaJet has a new website and it is preparing to open its Georgia refinery next month.
Spanish fashion giant Inditex (owner of the popular Zara retail chain) will be using SAF to power its cargo flights (operated by Atlas Air) out of Zaragoza airport, which is one of its logistics centers in Spain. The SAF is supplied by Reposol, Spain’s largest oil company.
Despite demand likely to outstrip supply by a wide margin in the near future, the short term cash requirements of a capital intensive business like building refineries that run on new, relatively unproven technology, can be unforgiving. SAF developer Velocys was rescued in extremis by a consortium of investors.
Other sustainable aviation news
Dominic Gates on the effect of contrails on global warming and how NASA and Boeing are teaming up to research a topic about which little is known. Very interesting.
The US Department of Defense will evaluate the Airlander airship for military uses. Hybrid Air Vehicles started, actually, as a project for the US military, so it’s back to the roots!
BA and the bank Standard Chartered have partnered to finance carbon removals, which are done, in fact, by UNDO Partners. READ.
What else in aviation?
Japan Airlines received its first A350-1000 with really impressive interiors.
Turkish Airlines placed an aircraft mega-order with Airbus.
An overview of the Lapland seasonal air travel market.
IATA presented its 2024 air market outlook. We were in Geneva to listen.
Luxury airline Beond raised some additional funds to continue rolling out its premium service to the Maldives.
The Hawaiian-Alaska Airlines merger didn’t catch everyone by surprise…
Antonov Airlines has shared a video showing 5 giant Rolls-Royce engines being loaded into an An-124 cargo aircraft.
Private jet broker Victor has been sold to an undisclosed Abu Dhabi investment group for an also undisclosed sum. Victor was one of the pioneers of online executive jet brokerage, as I described in this CNN piece quite a few years ago.
Argentinian low cost airline flybondi now allows you to resell your tickets, or buy them second-hand, on a digital marketplace. This seems to be, actually, a very practical application of blockchain tech in aviation.
Emirates presented Ebdaa, an innovation center in Dubai focusing on robotics, AI and web3 technologies, presumably with aviation and travel applications.