Category: Aircraft & Engines

Airbus has announced plans for a new CityAirbus at the company’s first Airbus Summit on “Pioneering Sustainable Aerospace” as the emerging Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market begins to firm up. Ushering in the next generation of CityAirbus, the fully electric vehicle is equipped with fixed wings, a V-shaped tail, and eight electrically powered propellers as part of its uniquely designed distributed propulsion system. It is designed to carry up to four passengers in a zero-emissions flight in multiple applications. CityAirbus is being developed to fly with a 80 km range and to reach a cruise speed of 120 km/h, making Read more

Boeing has forecast steady growth and greater sustainability for Europe’s commercial aviation fleet over the next 20 years, as the vast majority of the existing fleet is replaced with more fuel-efficient models. Enabled by low-cost carriers and a rapidly expanding leisure travel market, European carriers will need 8,705 new airplanes valued at €1.25 trillion/£1.1 trillion through 2040, according to the 2021 Commercial Market Outlook (CMO), Boeing’s long-term forecast of demand for commercial airplanes and services. Global and regional air travel markets are recovering largely as Boeing projected last year. Demand for air travel within Europe is leading the recovery as Read more

FAI rent-a-jet GmbH, Germany’s Special Mission Operator, has configured one of its seven Global Express aircraft (D-AFAM) as a dedicated air ambulance. The move follows increasing demand from the market for ultra-long-range air ambulance missions.  FAI has completed ten ultra-long-range air ambulance missions over the past two months alone. The company is focused on building up its air ambulance capabilities in long- and ultra-long-range missions with a view to strengthening its position as a world leader in the field. Previously, FAI converted the interior of the Global Express and configured it for air ambulance missions on a case-by-case basis.  In Read more

GECAS has reached an agreement to provide three A320neo and one A321NX narrow-body aircraft from its skyline to PLAY, the newly operating Icelandic low-cost airline.  The aircraft are scheduled to be delivered between autumn 2022 and spring 2023. Based in Reykjavík’s Keflavík International Airport and commencing operations in June of this year, PLAY’s current fleet of three A321neos connects passengers to ten locations across Europe. As Iceland offers a unique geographic location for transatlantic travel, these new technology narrow-body aircraft offer greater capability to make connections within North America as well.

Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions (EVE) and Helipass, SAS, have announced a new collaboration to accelerate and deploy electrical vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, also known in the market as EVA (Electrical Vertical Aircraft), across France and Europe. The partnership aims to fly Eve’s electric aircraft for a total of 50,000 flight hours per year. This could lead to an optional increase of 100,000 annual flight hours across Helipass’ network. Helipass plans to open digital bookings on its platform to offer an innovative and seamless user experience to customers throughout its network. To support the expansion of this partnership, Read more

Collins Aerospace continues to make progress on actuation capabilities for the U.K.’s Tempest program. Under a contract with BAE Systems, Collins will develop a number of demonstration components as part of continuing technology de-risking work on the program. Collins will support the program from its Actuation Systems headquarters in Wolverhampton, U.K. Since announcing it had been selected to provide actuation systems for Tempest in 2020, Collins has begun producing components in preparation for testing later in the year. “Our systems will help protect the Tempest’s aggressive program schedule and cost targets, to help ensure the continued success and timely development Read more

The Phoenix Police Department has signed a new order to upgrade its airborne law enforcement helicopter fleet with five new Airbus H125 helicopters. Deliveries are expected to begin next year. “We spent a lot of time analyzing which platform would best fit all of our operational needs as we began to renew our fleet, and the H125 met all of our requirements,” said Paul Apolinar, chief pilot at Phoenix Police Department. “Our responsibility is to protect and serve the Phoenix community, and these aircraft will allow us not only to protect from the skies, but to perform rescues in remote Read more

Air New Zealand and aircraft manufacturer Airbus have announced a joint initiative to research how hydrogen-powered aircraft could assist the airline with reaching its goal of net zero emissions by 2050. Under the MoU, Air New Zealand will analyze the impact hydrogen aircraft may have on its network, operations and infrastructure, while Airbus will provide hydrogen aircraft performance requirements and ground operations characteristics to support Air New Zealand to develop its decarbonization roadmap. Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran says the MoU is an exciting step towards understanding how hydrogen-powered aircraft could become a reality in New Zealand. “This agreement brings us a step closer to Read more