Executive jets, sustainability and more (The Allplane Newsletter #127)
This was EBACE week and pretty much the whole executive jet industry descended upon the shores of Lake Geneva for its annual gathering.
As you can imagine, sustainability was one of the core themes throughout the event. In addition to the main executive aviation OEMs, there was also a large presence of new generation, sustainable aviation startups and experts (many of them old friends of this site and our podcast!)
You can read my recap piece about EBACE here.
Electric Aviation
French startup AURA Aero has published this video showing its facilities at Toulouse-Francazal (AURA Aero is investing in a new factory at the same airport).
Twente airport, a regional Dutch airport, and Electron Aviation, signed an agreement to promote electric aviation in The Netherlands. READ.
Advanced Air Mobility
South Korea’s Kakao Mobility is ordering 50 VX4 eVTOLs from Vertical Aerospace. READ.
Honeywell tested its Anthem avionics platform, conceived for advanced air mobility (although the first flight has been on a more conventional Pilatus PC-12). READ.
Hybrid eVTOL developer Odys Aviation is setting up a regional HQ in Abu Dhabi. I must confess I am not familiar with this one. Aims for an all-electric range of 320km, which is ambitious, to say the least. READ.
Here is a video from EBACE showing the full-scale mockup of the Lilium eVTOL, from the outside and the inside:
Hydrogen Aviation
A strong critique of hydrogen as an aviation fuel (compared to alternatives such as electric and SAF). READ.
Natilus is partnering with ZeroAvia to offer hydrogen fuel cell as a propulsion option. READ. (Natilus is developing a Blended Wing Body cargo aircraft, you can read more about this project here).
Other sustainable aviation news
London Oxford airport, a small regional airport in the UK, is planning to invest £35M in a new green tech business park focused on aviation.
Their press release was useful to learn quite a few things I ignore about this airport, such as the fact that companies such as Textron Aviation and Lilium have a presence there. Places like Oxford are likely to be among the top beneficiaries of advanced air mobility technologies once these are rolled out. READ.
What else in aviation?
My flight review of Turkish Airlines business class on an A330-300. READ.
COMAC’s C919 aircraft, the Chinese alternative to the A320 and B737 families of aircraft, had its first commercial flight, with China Eastern Airlines. READ.
Beond, the new premium-only airline that will operate in Dubai and the Maldives, is preparing its launch and has already unveiled its livery with this video.
Apparently Slovenia is considering starting a flag carrier to fill the gap left by Adria’s bankruptcy a few years ago. Here’s an interesting post about flag carriers and small nations in Europe. READ.
Infograph published by Airports Council International (ACI) showing how Europe’s top 5 airline groups came into being over the years (I see LEVEL and Clickair are missing from the IAG tree and I also think a snapshot of Europe’s main airlines is incomplete without Wizz Air). CHECK IT OUT.
Etihad is preparing to reactivate its A380s and has published a video showing - behind the scenes - how it is doing it. WATCH.