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LATEST NEWS
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Friday, January 20th, 2023
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ZeroAvia, the US/UK hydrogen-electric aircraft developer has announced the successful maiden test flight of its 19-seat Dornier 228 testbed aircraft. The flight saw the Dornier become the world’s largest aircraft to be flown with a full-size hydrogen-electric powertrain. The hydrogen-electric engine had been retrofitted to the left wing of the aircraft while a single Honeywell TPE-331 stock engine remained on the right wing.
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The plane took off from the company's R&D facility at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire, UK, and the flight lasted ten minutes. The aircraft completed taxi, take-off, a full pattern circuit and landing. This successful maiden flight forms part of the HyFlyer II project, a major R&D programme backed by the UK Government's flagship ATI Programme, which targets development of a 600kW powertrain to support 9-19 seat aircraft worldwide with zero-emission flight. This is the largest ZeroAvia engine tested so far and sees the company on target to achieve certification in 2023.
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ZeroAvia's 2-5 MW powertrain programme which is already in progress will scale the clean engine technology for up to 90-seat aircraft, with further expansion into narrow-body aircraft demonstrators over the next decade. ZeroAvia's HyFlyer II programme to develop its ZA-600 hydrogen-electric engine and retrofit the Dornier 228 is being delivered in partnership with EMEC and Aeristech and is supported by the UK Government through the ATI Programme and the Department for Business, Energy Industrial Strategy, Innovate UK and Aerospace Technology Institute.
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There has also been significant commercial momentum for ZeroAvia in recent months, including an engine order from American Airlines, a partnership agreement with OEM Textron Aviation and infrastructure partnerships with airports including Rotterdam, Edmonton International and AGS Airports. The company also has 1,500 engines on pre-order, partnerships with seven aircraft manufacturers and a number of fuel and airport partnerships.
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Pratt & Whitney, a Raytheon Technologies business, has officially opened the doors to its new India Engineering Center (IEC) in Bengaluru.
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The facility is co-located with Pratt & Whitney's India Capabilities Center (ICC), which opened in 2022 to provide integrated global supply chain support and the recently inaugurated Collins Aerospace engineering and global operations centers. The IEC, which was designed to meet the LEED Platinum certification, further enhances Raytheon Technologies' combined presence in India of over 5,000 employees and facilitates collaboration across the company's businesses.
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"The Indian aviation market is growing at a rapid pace and Bengaluru is a hub for that growth," said Geoff Hunt, Senior Vice President, Engineering, Pratt & Whitney. "The work conducted at the IEC – by some of India's best and brightest minds – will support cutting edge technology that will drive the future of flight."
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More than 50 employees are now based in the state-of-the-art facility, with an additional 450 jobs to be filled over the next four years. Work performed at the IEC will encompass elements such as aero and mechanical and control systems for various products in Pratt & Whitney's broad portfolio of large and small commercial engines. It will also extend across the entire product lifecycle from development to field support and sustainment.
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Qantas is expanding its codeshare partnership with IndiGo. The national carrier of Australia launched the first phase of its codeshare agreement with India’s largest domestic carrier in August last year, offering customers seamless connections from Qantas flights in Bengaluru and Delhi onto IndiGo services to other major Indian cities, including Mumbai and Chennai, as well as smaller destinations such as Pune and Goa.
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Under the second phase of the agreement, Qantas customers can now travel to an additional eight cities, bringing the total number of Indian destinations available for connection from Delhi and Bengaluru to 21. Qantas customers will also have more choice across IndiGo’s domestic network with more than 250 new flights available for booking.
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GE Aerospace and Cargolux, the Luxembourg-based all-cargo airline, have entered into a long-term support agreement for the GE9X powering Cargolux’s new fleet of Boeing 777-8 freighters. The agreement includes a multi-year GE TrueChoice service agreement as well as the order of two spare engines. A TrueChoice services extension has also been agreed for Cargolux’s Boeing 747-8F fleet powered by GEnx-2B engines.
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In October of last year Cargolux revealed plans to replace its ageing 747-400 freighter fleet with an order for ten Boeing 777-8F aircraft.
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The TrueChoice suite of engine maintenance offerings incorporate an array of GE capabilities and customizations 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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Uzbekistan Airways, the national carrier of the Republic of Uzbekistan, has placed a firm order with Airbus for 12 A320neo-family aircraft (eight A320neos and four A321neos). The new aircraft will join the carrier’s current fleet of 17 Airbus A320-family aircraft. The choice of the engines will be made by the airline at a later stage.
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The A320neo-family aircraft will feature the new Airbus Airspace cabin, bringing premium comfort to the single aisle market. The airline is planning to operate its new aircraft to further develop its domestic and international route network.
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“The contract signed with Airbus is a new step in our fleet modernisation strategy aimed at offering our passengers the most modern and comfortable aircraft. At the same time these new fuel-efficient A320neo-family aircraft will help us to further expand and strengthen our footprint in Central Asia as well as develop our domestic and international network”, said Ilhom Makhkamov, Chairman of the Board of Uzbekistan Airways.
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Astronics Corporation, a leading provider of advanced technologies for global aerospace, defence and other mission-critical industries, has reported preliminary revenue and orders and announced the completion of the refinancing of its debt.
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The company reported that unaudited preliminary fourth-quarter sales are expected to be in the range of US$155 million to US$160 million, exceeding the company’s earlier guidance of US$140 million to US$150 million. The midpoint of the preliminary range represents a sequential increase in sales of 20% over the third quarter of 2022 and a 35% increase over the third quarter of 2021.
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Preliminary bookings in the fourth quarter are expected to be in the range of US$175 million to US$180 million.
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Peter J. Gundermann, Chairman, President and CEO, commented, “We continued to see strong order flow in the fourth quarter, as we have since the middle of 2021. We expect to report another positive book-to-bill quarter and another record ending backlog. More importantly, however, we finally saw the beginning of the sales ramp required to satisfy high demand as our supply chain continues to show improvement. We expect the sales ramp to endure as we move into 2023, consistent with our earlier revenue guidance for the year of US$640 million to US$680 million.”
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Astronics also announced that it has completed a financing transaction totalling US$205 million, which refinanced its previous revolving credit facility that was scheduled to mature in November 2023. The new financing consists of a US$90 million asset-based term loan and a US$115 million asset-based revolving credit facility. The term loan has a scheduled maturity of January 19, 2027, an interest rate of SOFR plus 8.75% and is collateralised primarily by real estate, fixed assets and intellectual property. The revolving credit facility has a scheduled maturity of January 19, 2026, an interest rate of SOFR plus 2.25% to 2.75% and is collateralised primarily by inventory and accounts receivable. (£1.00 = US$1.23 at time of publication).
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The Phenom 300MED, has received Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The Phenom 300MED is a unique medevac solution for the Phenom 300 series aircraft. The STC was performed at Embraer’s service centre in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and will be operated by launch customer, on-demand charter operator Grandview Aviation.
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The Phenom 300MED aeromedical interior was specified by Embraer and developed and certified by engineering services provider umlaut, part of Accenture, utilizing Aerolite equipment. Aerolite developed the intensive care unit (ICU) specifically for the Phenom 300MED. As per the certification requirements, umlaut conducted an evacuation test to confirm two fully disabled patients could be evacuated.
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The medevac solution, which is available for new and in-service aircraft, is exclusively installed by Embraer’s Services & Support organisation, ensuring the highest quality, reliability and service experience direct from the manufacturer.
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Spirit AeroSystems has named Mark Miklos Senior Vice President of the company’s defence and space business, effective April 1, 2023. Miklos will replace Duane Hawkins, current Executive Vice President, President Defence & Space, who has announced his intent to retire at the end of March 2023. Hawkins, who joined Spirit in 2013, will remain with the company in an advisory role following his retirement.
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Miklos will become a member of the Spirit Executive Leadership Team, reporting directly to Tom Gentile, President and Chief Executive Officer. He is currently Vice President in Spirit Defence & Space with responsibility for the company’s high-temperature composites business in Maine and the executive lead for the company’s hypersonic strategy.
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Miklos joined Spirit in January 2020 as a part of the acquisition of Fiber Materials, Inc. (FMI). He was CEO of FMI for three years, from 2017 to 2020.
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