From SAF plants to Tintin and singing choirs: the week in aviation
Welcome to this week's roundup!
As usual, we've got a packed issue covering sustainable aviation, fresh SAF investment projects, and some fascinating defense developments linking straight up to advanced air mobility projects we are tracking.
We also bring you stories from the world's airlines and manufacturers — plus a choir singing Beethoven at 35,000 feet. Let's dive in
Flying Art
This is one of the best aircraft liveries I have ever seen. To be honest, Brussels Airlines' Belgian Icons series (which we have covered here in the past) has some pretty impressive designs, but as a massive fan of Tintin, I'm completely biased toward the amazing new Tintin livery.
By the way, Diamond Aircraft, the new owner of Volocopter, has launched a public contest to propose new paint schemes for the company's eVTOL.
Defense Aerospace
A great deal is going on in defense aerospace and while military matters are a bit beyond the scope of this platform, with so many advanced air mobility developers building dual-use solutions, it's becoming hard not to pay attention.
This is one of the reasons I found the World Defense Show in Riyadh quite interesting. Unsurprisingly there were lots of drones and UAVs of all sorts, in addition to some manned aircraft, like these intricately decorated Saudi fighter jets. I also spoke with Boeing's regional director for defense at the show.
Also in defense, REGENT presented its Squire ground-in-wing vehicle, developed specifically for the US military.
Another AAM company that has pivoted toward defense applications is Ascendance, in France. We've got a first glimpse of its hybrid-electric eVTOL in the French media.
Electric & Advanced Air Mobility
Natilus has raised an additional $28M from investors and has also added an extra deck to its projected EVO blended-wing-body airliner. To learn more about this very interesting Californian startup, check out the podcast episode we did with its founder, Aleksey Matyushev.
Amazon invested in BETA Technologies, taking a 5.3% stake in the Vermont electric aircraft developer. This is a significant development that has gone a bit under the radar. BETA is starting in the cargo business, so Amazon's endorsement is a strong endorsement of one of the giants of this field.
BETA Technologies announced the conclusion of its Norwegian test program a few days ago (the eVTOL developer and its partner Bristow have published a beautiful video about it). Next was the turn of its New Zealand pilot test, conducted in partnership with Air New Zealand over the course of the last four months.
Here's an interesting data point the company shared: the Wellington-Blenheim route showed a significant difference between conventional fuel costs of approximately $110 in a Cessna Caravan and electrical energy use of $20 in the ALIA CX300.
Also down under, the CEO of Sydney Seaplanes (and former podcast guest!) is launching Alt Air, a company to develop advanced air mobility opportunities in Australia and New Zealand, whether at urban or regional level.
NASA and GE Aerospace are testing a new hybrid-electric engine.
If you're interested in how electric propulsion can be used to move jet engines as well, check out this podcast we did with Norwegian entrepreneur Ivar Aune, of SiriNor, a company developing an electric jet engine.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
SkyNRG has closed the financing it needs to build a 100,000-ton-a-year SAF plant in Delfzijl, in the north of the Netherlands near the border with Germany.
SAF producer Neste is scaling up production in Europe, from 1.5 million tons to 2.2 million, and is preparing, together with World Fuel Services, to deliver SAF at 100 European airports.
LanzaJet has raised an additional $47M from investors, led by Shell and IAG — two very significant players in their respective industries! — at a pre-money valuation of $650M. Also involved in this round are Groupe ADP, LanzaTech, and Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
To learn more about LanzaJet, check out the podcast we did with its CEO, Jimmy Samartzis.
Aircraft Manufacturers & Airlines
I was in Toulouse for the results presentation and media briefing of both ATR and Airbus. Here is what the CEOs of these two aircraft makers, Nathalie Tarnaud Laude and Guillaume Faury, said — ATR and Airbus.
The Chairman of TAAG Angola Airlines shares some insights about the strategy of the company in this video I recorded for AeroTime.
Airlines & Aviation Business
Riyadh Air is expecting to launch commercially anytime soon and has promised its booking platform will be unlike any other. Sam Chamberlain, Chief Product Officer at FLYR, the tech company designing the new Saudi airline's booking platform, explains what that means in this interview.
A new aircraft leasing company has been set up in Oman by BlueFive Capital, a relatively young investment group with a strong presence in the Gulf.
Something a Little Different
Beethoven's 9th Symphony was sung by a choir onboard a LEVEL A330-200 en route to Los Angeles. The singers were members of "Orfeó Català", one of Catalonia's most celebrated choral ensembles, heading to LA to perform together with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. What a flight that must have been!
Flight Review
There's a new flight review out, this one of ITA Airways' Economy Class on one of the Italian airline’s A220-300s.
