eVTOLs in Japan, C-check pics from Kazakhstan & More (The Allplane Newsletter #171)
Electric aviation
Bye Aerospace has started to build its first all-electric aircraft, the eFlyer 2.
Advanced Air Mobility
The Middle East had long been assumed to be one of the likeliest launchpads for the eVTOL economy. China has also been working on its own ecosystem. But another country that seems to have taken a really keen interest in advanced air mobility is Japan and the major US eVTOL developers have noticed.
Archer has closed a $500 million deal to supply, potentially, up to 100 Midnight eVTOL aircraft to Soracle, which is a joint venture between Japan Airlines and the Sumitomo Corporation.
In the meantime, Joby, which has Toyota as its main shareholder, has also been active in Japan, demo’ing its eVTOL aircraft.
Lilium has started working with KPMG to find a buyer that may save the company. The two subsidiaries that filed for bankruptcy had also administrators appointed.
Following the Lilium case, Lufthansa Innovation Hub has published a bearish take on the advanced air mobility sector, on its TNMT newsletter, questioning the whole business model assumptions behind it.
Eve has performed an urban air traffic simulation in Sao Paulo, together with two other partner companies, Omni Helicopters International Group (OHI) and Revo. Sao Paulo is currently the world’s largest civilian helicopter market and, therefore, a prime candidate to become a major eVTOL market.
Italian eVTOL developer MANTA is getting a new Chinese investor, the Shenyang Aviation Industries Group (which is part of AVIC, one of China’s main aerospace companies).
BETA Technologies sold 20 ALIA eVTOLs to Metro Aviation, a provider of emergency air services in the US.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
Interesting thoughts by Aaron Robinson on the UK’s APD tax and SAF. How much SAF could you buy with the entire amount collected via APD? Check it out.
Other sustainable aviation stories
French airship developer Flying Whales will need to find a new location for its proposed factory in SouthwesternFrance after local authorities rejected it on environmental grounds.
Other interesting aviation stories
My pics of CSA’s very last flight.
An interesting interview with Rolls-Royce’s CEO, Tufan Erginbilgiç, on McKinsey’s website.
A video showing how parcels move within Amazon Air’s logistics hub in Kentucky.
Steven Udvar-Házy has some words about Boeing and its strategic choices in an interview with Andreas Spaeth.
Close-up pictures of an Air Astana A321 undergoing a 12-year C-check.
Iberia completed the first commercial service of an A321XLR.
Brussels Airlines has selected its next Belgian icon: the Atomium.