Advanced batteries, Turkish Airlines, Finnair & more (The Allplane Newsletter #126)
There’s a new podcast episode!
Richard Wang is the founder and CEO of Cuberg, a firm that is developing advanced Lithium-Metal technologies for the aviation sector. This is the second time that Richard is in the podcast to share the latest news about their research in this field and his insights about the path ahead for battery-powered flying.
Electric Aviation
Green Aerolease, a French startup specializing in the leasing of light electric aircraft, mainly to flight schools, has raised €12M to continue growing. READ.
For more info, you can check this piece I wrote for AeroTime about how flight schools are transitioning to electric aircraft, featuring Green Aerolease, as well.
An American-Belgian startup wants to develop a 25-seat, 1000-km range all-electric airliner. Quite a tall order considering how trailblazers in this segment have been scaling down their goals lately. READ.
Advanced Air Mobility
The US government has put together an inter-agency task force with participation of NASA, the TSA, the FAA, and the FCC to define the future of advanced air mobility and its multiple aspects and dimensions. As many eVTOL developers are refining their technology and getting closer to launch, the regulatory aspects of AAM become ever more pressing. READ.
Hydrogen Aviation
Fokker Services Group plans to revive the Fokker 100 with liquid hydrogen propulsion. Quite an ambitious project, which will have an initial funding of €25M from the Dutch government. READ.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
Rolls-Royce announced it had successfully tested its new UltraFan, the first clean-sheet engine architecture design in nearly six decades. In addition to being more efficient than current engine designs, UltraFan is designed from scratch to work on 100% SAF. READ.
India preparing to introduce a 1% SAF mandate for its airlines in 2025. Half the EU requirement, but it’s a start! Is supply-side up to the challenge? READ.
Twelve, which defines itself as a “carbon-transformation company”, and Etihad are working on a project to power a flight between the US and Abu Dhabi with the startup’s E-Jet® fuel, which is a synthetic fuel made with captured CO2 and renewable energy. READ.
SkyNRG is to build a $800M SAF plant in Washington state. It expects it to start production in 2028 or 2029. READ.
Other sustainable aviation news
Airbus and Abu Dhabi energy company Masdar signed a wide-ranging deal to collaborate in the development of several decarbonization technologies, including direct carbon capture and green hydrogen produciton. READ.
Air Canada is helping collect climate and air quality data by fitting one of its A330-300 airliners with an array of sensors that detect greenhouse gases, reactive gases, aerosols and other particles. Apparently, the A330 and the A340 are the only aircraft types certified to carry the device, which is provided by In-Service Aircraft for a Global Observing System (IAGOS), a non-profit organization that monitors climate change and air quality globally by using commercial aircraft. READ.
Boeing hosted a sustainability event in Seattle and presented Cascade, a new digital tool to let operators better assess the environmental footprint of their operations and be able to modify their actions accordingly. READ.
Deutsche Aircraft announced the launch customer for its D328eco, a modernized version of the Do328 regional aircraft particularly optimized to minimize the environmental footprint while still using conventional propulsion technologies. READ.
What else in aviation?
A new video showing Turkish Airlines new inflight food options. Btw, the Turkish flag carrier has turned 90 this weekend!
An in-depth interview with Norse Atlantic Airways president, Charles Duncan. READ.
Russian airline UTair, which in addition to flying passengers runs one of the world’s largest civilian helicopter fleets, has indicated it may soon have to ground nearly a third of its helicopters due to lack of parts and components. READ.
Air Algérie is ordering new Boeing 737 MAXes and new Airbus jets will be ordered soon too. In the meantime, Royal Jordanian is ordering Embraers.
Finnair is leasing A330s to Qantas since it has little use for them at the moment, while Qantas needs to add new capacity fast in order to respond to recovering demand. READ.