|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LATEST NEWS
|
|
Tuesday, September 21st, 2021
|
|
|
|
|
|
The White House has announced that from early November this year, the travel ban to the U.S put in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic will now be lifted for a number of countries provided passengers have proof of full vaccination before boarding a flight and a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of departure. They will not, however, be required to quarantine upon arrival.
|
These will include the 27 Schengen countries which make up the EU, the U.K., Ireland, and Switzerland, together with China, Iran, Brazil, South Africa, and Brazil. Currently, only U.S. citizens, their immediate families, green card holders, and those with national interest exemptions can travel to the U.S. if they have been in the U.K. or EU in the previous two weeks. The exceptions to the vaccine policy will be young children who are not eligible for vaccination, while the new rules will not be applicable to those looking to cross the land border between Mexico and the U.S.
|
“This new international travel system follows the science to keep Americans and international air travel safe,” the White House coronavirus response coordinator, Jeff Zients, told reporters. “By requiring foreign nationals to be fully vaccinated in order to fly to the United States and in implementing additional strict safety protocols, we will protect Americans here at home and enhance the safety of international travel. This is based on individuals rather than a country-based approach.” The new policy will come into effect in “early November”, Zients added, allowing airlines and travel partners time to prepare to implement the new protocols.
|
The changes will be part of a new travel system the U.S. will be implementing which include updated rules on contact tracing and masking, meaning that unvaccinated Americans will be forced to face stricter testing requirements.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Airbus, Air Liquide and VINCI Airports, three major players in the aviation, hydrogen and airport industries, are working together to promote the use of hydrogen at airports and build the European airport network to accommodate future hydrogen aircrafts. The airport of Lyon-Saint Exupéry (France) will host the first installations as early as 2023. This partnership reflects the three groups' shared ambition to combine their respective expertise to support the decarbonization of air travel.
|
Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport (VINCI Airports' center of excellence for innovation) has been chosen as the pilot airport by the partners. The implementation of this project includes several phases:
|
- From 2023: deployment of a hydrogen gas distribution station at Lyon-Saint Exupéry airport. This station will supply both the airport's ground vehicles (airside buses, trucks, handling equipment, etc.) and those of its partners, as well as the heavy goods vehicles that drive around the airport. This first phase is essential to test the airport's facilities and dynamics as a "hydrogen hub" in its area of reach.
- Between 2023 and 2030: deployment of liquid hydrogen infrastructures that will allow hydrogen to be provisioned into the tanks of future aircraft.
- Beyond 2030: deployment of the hydrogen infrastructure from production to mass distribution of liquid hydrogen at the airport.
By 2030, the three partners will study the possibility of equipping VINCI Airports' European airport network with the hydrogen production, storage and supply facilities needed for use on the ground and on board aircraft.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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 A321neo connects passengers to ten locations across Europe. As Iceland offers a unique geographic location for transatlantic travel, these new technology narrow-bodies offer greater capability to make connections within North America as well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pratt & Whitney and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are investing US$50 million to develop an ultra-quiet engine fan and advanced combustion technology designed to reduce noise, emissions, and fuel consumption as part of the third phase of the FAA’s Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN III) initiative. Pratt & Whitney has been an FAA partner since the program’s inception in 2010.
|
Pratt & Whitney will match the FAA’s US$25 million funding for the development of technologies that will continue to make jet engines more fuel efficient, leading to lower emissions, and helping make air travel more sustainable. Pratt & Whitney ushered in a new era of commercial propulsion with the introduction of the Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine for single-aisle aircraft in 2016. Since its introduction in 2016, the GTF family of engines has helped 54 operators save more than 500 million gallons of jet fuel and avoid 4.9 million metric tonnes of CO2 over 9.3 million flight hours.
|
Previous CLEEN awards in 2010 and 2015 supported the development of an ultra-low fan pressure ratio engine coupled with a short inlet, as well as compressor and turbine technologies that build upon the company’s revolutionary geared engine architecture. Pratt & Whitney will use these advancements as a base to drive even higher efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions in its GTF engines.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The City of Carmel and Republic Airways have jointly announced that Republic Airways plans to move its training activities and corporate headquarters to Carmel, Indiana.
|
Republic, one of the largest regional airlines in the U.S., will be part of a re-development project along the Meridian (U.S. 31) Corporate Corridor. In addition to its headquarters, the site will include a high-tech training facility for pilots, technicians, flight attendants and other positions within the airline, the expansion of an adjacent hotel and a new parking garage wrapped with commercial amenities on the first floor and multi-family living above.
|
The investment for the initial phases will bring approximately 1,900 new jobs to Carmel with estimated annual wages of US$150 million and will allow the company to consolidate training centers currently located in Cincinnati, St. Louis, Indianapolis and a number of other locations.
|
The 105,000 ft² training facility will be three stories tall and visible to travelers on nearby U.S. 31, providing passersby with a unique view of pilot-training simulators through large bay windows that will face the highway. Within the development, an “eagles nest” viewing deck will allow visitors, school students and other aviation partners a unique view of the excitement of aviation.
|
Construction will begin with the training facility, which will include 20 classrooms, 94 workstations, two cabin trainers and eight flight simulators. After the corporate headquarters is constructed, four more classrooms will be added along with two more flight simulators. The hotel adjacent to the training center will be expanded to 274 rooms and used exclusively as accommodations for trainees, visiting instructors, business partners and colleagues traveling to the aviation campus.
|
Republic operates a fleet of 220 Embraer aircraft and 6,000 aviation professionals located across 12 crew and maintenance bases, providing nearly 1,000 daily flights to 100 cities in 40 states, Canada, the Caribbean and Central America.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Guillaume Daudin has been appointed Senior Vice-President Programs of ATR, the regional aircraft manufacturer. As of September 1, 2021, Daudin reports directly to ATR’s CEO, Stefano Bortoli, and joins the company’s Executive Committee.
|
Daudin will head a brand new independent “Programs” directorate with the goal to orchestrate and synchronize the various functions of ATR (engineering, operations, procurement, etc.) to ensure end-to-end integration and consistency to deliver company objectives. This includes being responsible for new aircraft developments and in-service continuous improvements projects, configuration management, overall integrated planning, fulfil customer orders, financial costing, and company business performance.
|
He joined ATR from Airbus where he occupied a wide variety of key roles in engineering, configuration, quality and program management over the past 17 years.
|
|
|
|
|
|
AAR, a provider of aviation services to commercial and government operators, MROs and OEMs, was awarded a firm, fixed price contract by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for the conversion and delivery of a B737-700 aircraft modified into a “FlexCombi” configuration.
|
With this acquisition, the NNSA will increase its fleet size to support mission critical activities to maintain the safety, security and effectiveness of the United States’ nuclear deterrent capacity. The FlexCombi configuration gives the NNSA the ability to quickly configure the aircraft between passenger and/or cargo modes, serving ever-evolving mission requirements. Work will commence immediately and be completed within twelve months.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions 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, Eve will work with Helipass to develop training, on-site support, and technical publications to facilitate the launch of EVA commercial operations.
|
Following the commercial introduction of the EVA, which is planned for 2026, both companies will endeavor to launch Eve’s EVA aircraft across Helipass’ markets. These flights will include sightseeing, city and airport transfers, as well as a growing on-demand service.
|
|
|
|
|
|
C&L Aviation Group has completed the construction of a 27,000 ft² parts warehouse on its Bangor, ME campus, adjacent to the company’s component shop. The company will be utilizing the warehouse to store parts from its current 15 aircraft teardown projects including the nine ERJ 145 aircraft the company purchased from a European-based operator and a recent multi-million dollar ATR spare parts purchase made by the company.
|
The new building is one of three warehouse locations the company now has in Bangor, which when combined total over 50,000 ft² of parts storage space. C&L also has warehouses strategically located around the globe in Australia and Europe.
|
|
The new warehouse is one of five building projects C&L has been working on over the past 18 months. In 2020 the company purchased a local events center near the Bangor airport and converted it into its component shop, where they work on smaller aircraft components. The company is also in the middle of building a new, 12,000 ft² interior shop, a 5,000 ft² add-on to one of its hangars for storage, and renovating its corporate aircraft maintenance hangar which includes new floors, walls, customer offices, and a state-of-the-art interior showcase and design center. All these projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
click here to download the latest PDF edition
|
|
|
|
click here to download the latest PDF edition
|
click here to subscribe to our other free publications
|
|
AIRCRAFT & ENGINE MARKETPLACE
|
click here to view in PDF aircraft and engines available for sale and lease
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interested in advertising with AviTrader?
|
|
Vice President Sales & Business Development
|
|
|
|
|
