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LATEST NEWS
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Thursday, November 17th, 2022
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Azul Linhas Aéreas (Azul), the Brazilian carrier headquartered at Barueri on the outskirts of São Paulo has confirmed it is expanding its fleet of Airbus A330-900neo jets, having placed a firm order for three more of the wide-body airliners with the European planemaker. This means Azul will be operating a fleet of eight A330neos in total. The A330neo is one of Airbus’ leading wide-body family of jets which offer lower operating costs and a reduced environmental footprint by combining enhanced technologies from the A350 with highly efficient Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines.
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Featured with the Airspace cabin, the A330neo provides an unmatched passenger experience and operational efficiency thanks to a redesigned welcome area, enhanced mood lighting, larger and modern overhead compartments, and new window and lavatory designs. Azul commenced operations in 2008 and now serves more than 150 destinations within Brazil, as well as flying non-stop to the United States, Europe and South America. Azul received the Americas’ first A330neo in 2019 and operates 12 A330-family aircraft. Shortly, Azul will start operating four A350-900s to further expand its routes.
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“We are delighted to have secured three more next-gen Airbus widebody aircraft for the upcoming years. This reaffirms our position as the airline with the most modern fleet in the region, with 70 percent of our capacity coming from fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly aircraft,” said John Rodgerson, Chief Executive Officer of Azul. “We applaud Azul’s decision that shows their forward looking strategy and proves the economics and performance of the A330neo are most compelling. The A330neo is the perfect tool to support Azul in expanding its fleet with the right-sized, modern widebody, leveraging the latest technology and efficiency and contributing to reducing CO2,” said Christian Scherer, Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Airbus International.
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Archer Aviation (Archer), a leader in electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, and E-One Moli Energy Corp. (Molicel), an industry-leading supplier of lithium-ion battery cells, have entered into a memorandum of understanding for Molicel to manufacture and supply the battery cells for Archer’s production electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, Midnight.
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Archer is focused on building an aircraft tailored to the needs of intra-city travel, optimising its Midnight aircraft to perform back-to-back short distance flights of about 20 miles with approximately ten-minute charging cycles in-between. Batteries are an important consideration in achieving Midnight’s desired payload, range and charging time. The ability to operate eVTOL aircraft in dense, urban environments requires state-of-the-art, reliable battery cells that can deliver high-power, low-impedance and fast charging capabilities.
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Molicel’s advanced battery technology and fast-growing production capacity make them an ideal partner for Archer as it continues on its ramp to commercialisation. Last year, Molicel announced plans to establish its first Gigafactory in Taiwan, which is scheduled to ramp up production in 2023. The facility will have the capacity to produce 1.8 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery capacity annually.
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Molicel's high-performance cells also offer a significant cycle life when utilised in Archer's battery pack and, as a result, reduce the long-term operating cost for its Midnight production aircraft. Partnering with a world-class battery supplier that can reliably manufacture cells at scale, allows Archer to reduce its certification risk, as well as its development timelines and costs.
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Lufthansa Technik has formally handed over the second Airbus A350-900 government aircraft to the German Armed Forces. The aircraft, bearing the tactical registration 10+01, will soon join the fleet of the Federal Ministry of Defence's (BMVg) Special Air Mission Wing for long-haul political-parliamentary flight operations. It is equipped for the first time with a full government cabin.
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The Airbus A350 christened on November 16, arrived factory-fresh at Lufthansa Technik at the end of March 2021 and has since undergone an extensive modification programme at the company's competence centre for Special Aircraft Services in Hamburg. The main focus was on the fitting of the full government cabin, which differs significantly from the transitional cabin of the 10+03 "Kurt Schumacher", the first VIP and government aircraft based on an Airbus A350, which was already delivered in 2020.
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In contrast to the latter's open cabin design, the various functional areas for political-parliamentary flight operations are now structurally separated from one another, as was already the case with its two predecessors based on the Airbus A340. The remaining space in the cabin is available for the delegations traveling with the aircraft. It features seating with generous spacing, an appropriate number of washrooms and modern galley equipment.
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Aeronautical Engineers, Inc. (AEI) has announced that the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has approved AEI’s STC (ST02690LA) for the 12-pallet position B737-800SF freighter conversion. AEI has gained FAA, CAAC, EASA,
TCCA, UK CAA, CAACI (Cayman Islands) DCA (Guernsey), ANAC and now CAAM approvals for its B737-800SF.
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AEI is currently the only conversion company to have ETOPS 180 approval on the B737-800 freighter conversion. Additionally, AEI can convert all B737-800 line number aircraft including those with flat aft pressure bulkheads and Split Scimitar winglets.
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The AEI converted B737-800SF freighter offers a main deck payload of up to 52,700 lbs. (23,904 kg) and incorporates eleven full height 88” x 125” container positions, plus an additional position for an AEP/AEH. The conversion also incorporates new floor beams aft of the wing box, a large 86” x 137” main cargo door with a single vent door system.
AEI’s forward-thinking design allows for containers to be loaded into the aircraft a full 16.5” aft of the forward door jamb, ensuring ground operators have sufficient manoeuvring room which minimises potential door and aircraft strikes. Additionally, the AEI B737-800SF includes a flexible Ancra Cargo Loading System, a rigid 9-g barrier, five supernumerary seats as standard, a galley and full lavatory
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Pratt & Whitney Canada, a business unit of Pratt & Whitney, has released that Shenzhen-based CITIC Offshore Helicopter Co., (COHC) is expanding the scope of its designated maintenance services to provide line maintenance and mobile repair team support for the PW206B2 and PW206B3 engines that power Airbus H135B2/B3 helicopters, and the PW206C that powers the Leonardo AW109.
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COHC was authorised as a Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) Designated Maintenance Facility (DMF) in 2018 to provide PT6C-67C engine maintenance services for Leonardo AW139 helicopter customers. It has recently signed a contract with Leonardo for four AW139 helicopters, which will be utilized for offshore oil-and-gas production (OGP) operations. The deliveries will be completed by first half of 2023, expanding the Leonardo fleet operated by COHC to ten helicopters with eight AW139s, one AW169 and one AW109 all powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada helicopter engines.
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The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have launched a joint cooperation initiative to rethink aviation connectivity, publishing a White Paper proposal for the modernisation and harmonisation of the aviation data communication landscape by 2035.
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Airbus and Boeing, as aviation stakeholders, contributed to the study, providing insight and information which allowed EASA and the FAA to elaborate the vision presented in the white paper.
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Aviation connectivity supports the various air-ground data exchanges that are essential to support safe, sustainable air traffic management (ATM) and efficient air operations. It does not include the provision of broadband services to passengers.
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The exchanges are currently supported by a set of technologies that rely to a large extent on limited-bandwidth links, such as Very High Frequency (VHF) datalink and first-generation aviation SATCOM. While these technologies have served the aviation community well for decades, the systems as currently deployed are fragmented and not always interoperable. There is a need to look to the future and bring the system up to modern-day standards making use of technologies such as broadband.
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In addition to the desire to modernise, there is a pressing need for the aviation community to converge on what should be the common solutions of tomorrow due to increasing demand on these systems. This is due to the fact that future air traffic management concepts, optimised airline operations and maintenance of latest generation aircraft will depend on safe, secure and high-capacity connectivity solutions.
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Key objectives for the project were that the future connectivity landscape must provide the required safety, security and performance levels as well as sufficient capacity. A further aim was to make efficient usage of the bandwidth spectrum already assigned to aviation, without needing to request additional dedicated bandwidth.
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The white paper outlines a jointly proposed vision for the future aviation connectivity landscape which is based on the combination of aviation specific solutions (VDL Mode 2 and SATCOM Performance Class B) – that will offer safety and performance – and commercial, broadband solutions. Together, these will allow for high capacity and efficiency at a manageable cost.
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The paper further includes a roadmap to allow a smooth and safe transition to the new approach. To support this, the roadmap leverages existing or already planned infrastructures to the maximum extent possible, so as to optimise the share of complexity between air and ground, while still providing the required performance.
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EASA and the FAA are both committed to supporting research in the frame of the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) and NextGen Programmes, and as a next step, supporting the transition strategy presented in the white paper.
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British Airways has become the first UK airline to trial the use of biometric technology for international flights, enabling customers taking part in the trial to travel through the airport ‘smartly’ without having to show their passport.
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Customers who sign up to take part in the airline’s trial from London Heathrow Terminal 5 will be invited to scan their face, passport and boarding pass on their smartphone or tablet ahead of travel, with this information being kept safe and secure.
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When trial participants arrive at the airport, Smart Bio-Pod cameras verify their identity in under three seconds, allowing them to keep their passport safely in their pocket until they reach their destination.
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David Breeze, Operations Transformation Manager for British Airways, said: “Not only is this the first time that our customers have been able to register their biometric information at home, but it’s the first time they can use it for British Airways’ international flights. This is a secure and efficient tool that makes for a smarter and smoother airport experience, which will reduce the time it takes us to board aircraft”
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“The beauty of this technology is that it also frees our people up to look after more complex customer inquiries and deliver the best possible customer service.”
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The trial will run for six months on British Airways flights to Malaga, Spain. Customers who opt-in will be invited to make use of the Fast-Track security lane and will receive complimentary priority boarding.
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If the trial is successful, it’s expected to be extended to more international flights.
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