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LATEST NEWS
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Wednesday, November 16th, 2022
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United Airlines has announced that it is to invest up to US$37.5 million (£32 million) in a biofuel refinery which will be capable of producing up to 50,000 barrels of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable diesel and other renewable fuels per day. Currently, the NEXT Renewable Fuels (NEXT) refinery, located in Port Westward, Oregon is undergoing permitting and expects to become operational by the beginning of 2026.
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NEXT is a next-generation fuels company which is currently dedicated to sustainably producing clean, low-carbon fuels and the Port Westward refinery is its first commercial project with the chosen location aiming to serve the West Coast market. NEXT's biorefinery offers several unique benefits including access to a deep-water port, an existing industrial-grade dock and multi-modal logistics options, which facilitates access to feedstock options and fast-growth SAF offtake markets on the west coast.
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The American Airlines’ investment comes under the umbrella of the group’s offshoot company United Airlines Ventures (UAV) and the Port Westward project is its fifth SAF-related technology investment and its first direct investment in a bio refinery.
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Launched in 2021, UAV is a first-of-its-kind sustainability-focused ventures fund that targets startups, upcoming technologies, and concepts that will complement United's goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 – without relying on traditional carbon offsets such as voluntary offsets or planting trees. Currently, UAV's portfolio includes SAF producers and other companies advancing technologies including carbon utilization, hydrogen-electric engines, electric regional aircraft and air taxis.
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GKN Aerospace has successfully achieved a major milestone delivering a ground-based demonstrator of a liquid hydrogen aircraft fuel system. The demonstrator was designed, built and tested in collaboration with Filton Systems Engineering, under the Innovate UK-funded Safe Flight project. The goal of the project was to investigate the feasibility of using a liquid hydrogen fuel source to increase the endurance of a search and rescue uncrewed aerial system (UAS) concept.
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The project enabled GKN to understand and address many of the safety concerns raised by the introduction of such a novel fuel. Integrated fuel tank design and distribution solutions were developed, including vaporisation and conditioning of the liquid hydrogen. The performance of the fuel system was verified by coupling it with a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack, representative of the type that could be installed on a future zero emission aircraft. The project demonstrated successful storage and management of liquid hydrogen, supplying the fuel cell power system with hydrogen at the required temperature and pressure over a range of electrical loads typical of a UAS search and rescue mission.
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Key outcomes of the project include development of safe system design, manufacturing knowledge, operational knowledge for liquid hydrogen fuel systems, hydrogen fuel system test data and an adaptable test rig suited to further study of hydrogen components and subsystems.
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AviLease, the new, PIF-backed global aviation lessor, has successfully delivered the first two of its twelve Airbus A320neos on lease to Saudi low-cost airline flynas. This is AviLease's first delivery, following its launch in July this year. flynas is expected to receive the remaining aircraft by the end of 2023.
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The swift delivery speaks to the rapid expansion of the Saudi Arabia aviation sector, which will witness the region’s fastest passenger traffic growth through to 2040. AviLease, which has a mandate of supplying sustainable, efficient leasing and financing services to airlines, is already playing a major role in that expansion, and will continue contributing to the domestic sector at pace and scale.
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Virgin Australia has signed a ten-year TrueChoice™ overhaul agreement with GE Aerospace for the service of the airline's fleet of CFM56-7B engines which power its fleet of Boeing B737 Next Generation aircraft. The airline currently operates 78 B737 NG aircraft, with plans to extend to 84 aircraft through 2023.
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Virgin Australia Chief Operations Officer Stuart Aggs said the agreement demonstrated the company’s commitment to its B737 fleet for the long-term.
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The TrueChoice suite of engine maintenance offerings incorporate an array of GE capabilities and customisations across an engine's lifecycle. All TrueChoice offerings are underpinned by GE data and analytic capabilities and experience to help reduce maintenance burden and service disruptions for customers.
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Finnair starts change negotiations with its cabin crew in Finland to discuss its plans to subcontract inflight service on routes to/from Thailand and the U.S. to partners. Possible subcontracting would be implemented by the end of 2023. The plan is a part of the efforts to restore Finnair’s profitability by reducing unit costs and strengthening unit revenues. Finnair made considerable losses during the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of Russian airspace significantly impacts Finnair’s ability to generate profit.
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Finnair’s primary target has been to find solutions for decreasing unit costs together with its employees. During this autumn, Finnair has discussed with all its employees about possibility to achieve savings by changing employment terms. For cabin crew, Finnair proposed changes for example to crew utilisation efficiency, layover hotel rules and to additional pay per hour rules for long flights, as the closure of Russian airspace has made the flight times to Asia considerably longer. A negotiation result was reached with some employee groups, but unfortunately, a solution was not found with the cabin crew in Finland. In this situation, Finnair must seek savings through alternative measures.
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If realized, the subcontracting plan could result in reducing up to 450 jobs in Finnair’s inflight services. Finnair currently employs approximately 1750 cabin crew members in Finland. The cabin service for Finnair’s Singapore, Hong Kong and India routes as well as for the Doha routes from Stockholm and Copenhagen is provided by Finnair’s partners already.
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“Our target continues to be to find a savings solution together with our cabin crew. We now need a genuine will from the negotiators to find solutions that would allow us to continue inflight service with our own crew and avoid redundancies. Discussion on alternative solutions is a vitally important part of the change negotiations process”, says Topi Manner, Finnair CEO.
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The change negotiations will start on November 23 and are estimated to last at least six weeks. A social support programme to help those who could lose their work in re-employment will be discussed in the negotiations.
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Hans Airways has successful completed a new round of financing which will enable it to progress plans to commence scheduled air services between Birmingham and Amritsar in India - and satisfy existing financial obligations.
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Hans Airways has satisfied the Civil Aviation Authority's (CAA) requirements for an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC). The secured new investment will take the airline to the next stage toward satisfying the CAA of its financial viability and subsequent operating licence to provide revenue air services.
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Aligned to the new investment is a management restructure. COO Nathan Burkitt takes on the role of CEO from Satnam Saini, who continues with the airline as a Board director. Dr Barry Humphreys assumes the role of interim Chairman, succeeding Ruchir Verma.
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The airline's Board now comprises: Dr Barry Humphreys, Jane Middleton, Dr Peter Malanik, Kirpal Jass, Indervir Jass, Satnam Singh Saini, Nathan Burkitt and Sulagna Roy as Company Secretary.
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“Establishing a new airline is never straight-forward and there will inevitably be hurdles along the way. Hans Airways is now well positioned to move forward. With growing evidence of strong demand for additional air services between the UK and India, supplemented by charter opportunities, we have every expectation of being able to launch,” commented Hans Airways Chair Dr Barry Humphreys.
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Wizz Air has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with OMV, the international integrated oil, gas and chemicals company headquartered in Vienna, for the supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) between 2023 and 2030. The MoU gives Wizz Air the opportunity to purchase up to 185,000 metric tonnes of SAF from OMV. This co-operation ensures that Wizz Air can progress in accordance with its plan for the reduction of CO2 intensity per passenger kilometre.
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OMV is implementing numerous measures to help deliver its ambitious strategic sustainability goals and SAF is a key technology for the decarbonisation of the aviation industry. The goal involves increasing SAF production to as much as 700,000 tonnes in 2030. This is in line with OMV's ambition to become a net-zero company by 2050 at the latest (for Scopes 1, 2 and 3). To this end, clear medium-term and long-term emission reduction targets have been defined as part of the OMV Strategy 2030.
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AT&T has added access to Panasonic Avionics’ in-flight mobile phone service to its lead travel product—AT&T International Day Pass™.
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As a result of this agreement, AT&T and Panasonic Avionics, through its wholly owned subsidiary Aeromobile Communications (Aeromobile), will deliver end-to-end connectivity to airline passengers providing an extra dimension to the in-flight connectivity experience.
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Now passengers that have added AT&T International Day Pass (IDP) to their line(s) can use their mobile devices on aircraft equipped with Panasonic Avionics mobile solutions for only the same daily fee as they would be charged in any other IDP destination.
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This development follows an increase in data consumption across Panasonic Avionics’ in-flight mobile network in 2022, compared to pre-pandemic levels. As air travel continues to recover, mobile network operators around the globe such as AT&T are creating compelling retail propositions, driving in-flight roaming usage and adoption.
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Through its subsidiary Aeromobile, Panasonic Avionics joins forces with mobile operators around the world to include in-flight roaming in compelling retail propositions like their mainstream packages, to improve the travel experience for their subscribers.
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