Warner Bros Dreamliner, CATL invests in Autoflight & More (The Allplane Newsletter #163)
Sustainable Aviation News
Electric Aviation
Electric aircraft startup Vaeridion signed an agreement with GKN Aerospace to work on the aerostructures for its future electric airplane. The Munich-based startup has also launched its own battery lab project as well.
Toulouse-based AURA AERO announced both a Letter of Intent for 75 of its ERA aircraft (in its cargo version) from US last-mile freight operator Alpine Air Express. Pretty much at the same time it announced also the future establishment of an assembly line in Florida, in cooperation with Embry-Riddle University to serve the US market.
Electra.aero has selected Honeywell as its industrial partner to make the flight control computers and electromechanical actuation systems. These are particularly critical pieces of gear, since in a distributed-propulsion electrically-powered aircraft like Electra.aero’s eSTOL aircraft, pretty much everything relies on electronics.
Advanced Air Mobility
A couple of news concerning AutoFlight (as usual, quite significant moves within China that go somehow underreported!)
1) It completed the first eVTOL crossing of the Yangtze river.
2) CATL, one of the, if not *the*, leading battery companies in the world is investing in AutoFlight.
EHang’s eVTOLs are starting to operate in Taiyuan City, in hanxi province. A local tourism operator has 50 of them on order!
Europe is also seeing some action on the eVTOL front, with Lilium and Groupe ADP getting into a collaboration agreement, with the aim of facilitating the future use of the latter’s airport facilities by Lilium Jet eVTOLs.
Hydrogen Aviation
These stories is still from the Farborough AirmShow overhang and they are, as usual on this section, about ZeroAvia.
The first one is about ZeroAvia joining forces with KLM to potentially end up powering its KLM Cityhopper regional flights in the future. The most immediate goal, for now, is to conduct a test flight by 2026 (with some unespecified aicraft retrofitted with ZeroAvia’s future ZA2000 powertrain).
The other story is about EcoJet, the British sustainable airline startup, confirming its order for 22 (+40 options) of ZeroAvia’s future ZA2000 powertrain (EcoJet had already expressed its interest in ZeroAvia’s technology).
Airbus has cancelled inflight tests of a hydrogen-powered Auxiliar Power Unit (APU). The tests will take place, but only on the ground.
Lleida-Alguaire airport (ILD) has started to produce its own “green” hydrogen. Lleida is part of the Airports of Catalonia, whose managing director was a guest of the podcast quite some time ago. This is an airport with very little commercial traffic that has nevertheless transformed itself into an industrial airport which includes testing activities. This project is one more step in that direction.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
Metafuels, a Swiss startup (that, I must confess, was not aware of), has received a grant to continue developing its e-SAF tech.
United Airlines becomes the SAF pioneer at Chicago O’Hare (ORD) airport, 1 million gallons of SAF are going to be provided there by Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel™. READ.
And, in Spain , Volotea is sourcing 61 million gallons of SAF from Spanish energy company Repsol. READ.
Other sustainable aviation stories
Air New Zealand, one of the airlines that has, so far, been among the most active in the sustainability space, has announced it is withdrawing from the Science Based Targets initiative to lower carbon emissions. The airline has explained that this doesn’t mean it is abandoning efforts to decarbonize, but, instead is a consequence of the fact that it doesn’t see the 2030 goals as realistic anymore.
Regent has published a video to show how its seagliders ground-in-wing vehicles will operate.
Other interesting aviation stories
Etihad presented its Warner Bros World™ Yas Island Dreamliner, in partnershop with dedicated to the world of the US cartoon brand. Interestingly, from the press release it looks like there is going to be a Warner Bros World™-themed “children’s lounge” at Abu Dhabi airport!
Picture: Etihad Airways
A couple of interesting announcements by Turkish Airlines as well: internet access is going to be free for all passengers (now they only need to get Istanbul airport to offer more than one hour of free wifi!) and also the first financing of an aircraft, an A350, in Chinese Yuan.
Lufthansa Innovation Hub released another of their always interesting reports, this one about the use of robots in commercial aviation.
IAG has dropped plans to acquire Iberia’s most direct competitor, Spanish airline Air Europa. This is likely due to anticipating harsh conditions from the European competition authorities. As a side consequence, Volotea has rescinded its deal with Grupo Abra to grow in Madrid.
KLM is getting close to getting its first ever Airbus narrow body aircraft.
Venezuela is cutting air links with countries that have criticized the way the latest presidential election was handled and the very likely electoral fraud. Panamanian airline Copa Airlines seems to be so far the most impacted airline. READ.