New British aircraft project, solar power at airports & more (The Allplane Newsletter #123)
Electric Aviation
In the UK, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (a commercial spin-off of the university of the same name) and Britten-Norman, a manufacturer of commuter aircraft (often used in short routes connecting island communities, for example) are merging to develop hydrogen fuel-cell aircraft together.
The deal will see an additional £10m being injected in the company by existing investors. Interestingly, in the longer term, the stated aim is to work on larger aircraft concepts for up to 100 passengers. Exciting times! READ.
Btw, both companies were already cooperating within the framework of Project Fresson, a project backed by the UK Government to develop hydrogen fuel-cell technology for aircraft. This is what we wrote about it a while ago.
Chinese battery maker CATL presented a 500 Wh/kg battery. Interesting that aircraft featured prominently in the presentation. READ.
Australian domestic airline REX invested (taking a 20% stake) in Dovetail Aviation, an electric aircraft joint venture between Sydney Seaplanes and Dante Aeronautical. READ.
As it happens, both the CEOs of Sydney Seaplanes and Dante Aeronautical were on separate episodes of the podcast! You can listen to them here:
Advanced Air Mobility
XWing is taking steps towards the certification (by the FAA) of its pilotless flight technology. READ.
Hydrogen Aviation
Hardly a week passes without some relevant news from ZeroAvia. The hydrogen aircraft startup has now closed a deal with Absolut Hydrogen, a French company that works in solutions for the use of liquid hydrogen. If ZeroAvia aims to scale to larger passenger planes it will have to switch from gas to liquid hydrogen. READ.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
The UK is going to open the second round of its grant programme to support SAF production. The whole programme has a budget of £165 million, of which the first half (£82.5 million) has already been assigned to 5 projects being developed in different parts of Britain by four SAF producers. This Greenair piece has also a very comprehensive review of the UK’s policies on SAF. READ.
Other sustainable aviation news
Nice interactive infographic that shows the different sustainability initiatives American Airlines is involved in. CHECK IT OUT.
Lyon-Saint Exupéry airport (LYS), in France, an airport operated by VINCI, is going to build a large solar plant. The solar farm will have 14 hectares, cover a 5,800-slot car park and able to produce 24 GWh of electricity per year. READ.
Natilus, a Californian startup working on an autonomous cargo drone, performed successfully the first flight test of a subscale model. READ.
What else in aviation?
Aeroflot is reactivating some of its idle Airbus and Boeing aircraft. READ.
An article by Falko’s CEO about the virtues of focusing on a niche market in aviation (in Falko’s case, regional aircraft). READ.
The parent company of both Avianca and GOL is planning to go public in London or New York. READ.
Lots of aircraft being destroyed after they got trapped in the Sudan cross-fire. READ.