All posts tagged: aviation

Commentary: The more pertinent question is not whether SIA should exit the Air India partnership

Commentary: The more pertinent question is not whether SIA should exit the Air India partnership

Published by Sam Flores

SIA’s management must articulate the case clearly to its shareholders and the public here. Has its assessment of the long-term value of the Air India partnership changed? What milestones should be set to judge whether the investment is delivering on its original expectations? What kind of control will it take in the airline’s operations to ensure that its goals are met? How much operational control is Tata willing to give, and how much is the Indian government willing to tolerate? How willing they are to let SIA take the lead in its proven area of expertise and do whatever it takes to transform Air India will be telling. Staying the course on Air India does not mean just injecting more funds. SIA must be satisfied – and satisfy its shareholders – that the partnership is on track. While things may look dire, Air India is not a lost cause either. Three months ago, the Indian carrier received a Skytrax 4-Star Airline Rating – on par with leading international carriers. Despite the financial difficulties, it is …

E-quipment highlight: Tiger electric baggage tug hauls 30 TONS [video]

E-quipment highlight: Tiger electric baggage tug hauls 30 TONS [video]

Published by skeptic

The Tiger Li-Ion electric baggage tug is quietly revolutionizing the airport ground handling and ground support equipment (GSE) market with silent, emission-free running, massive fuel savings, and a 60,000 lb. (!) payload capacity. Despite their fun, approachable appearance, airport baggage tugs are seriously capable machines, geared down to produce the sort of immense torque necessary to haul literal tons of luggage (or airplanes) from terminal to tarmac hundreds of times a day on duty cycles that would trash your neighbor’s “tough guy” pickup in under a month. That amount of work requires huge amounts of energy and, as a consequence, huge amounts of fuel. But, while diesel prices are surging unpredictably, electric fuel has proven to be significantly less expensive and more predictable, leading Tiger’s parent company, Waev, to claim that its electric Li-Ion tug will save fleet operators more than $19,000 per year in fuel alone. Per tug. Tiger math Electric vs. ICE GSE costs; via Tiger. The electric tug will also save more than 3.5 tons of carbon emissions per year – a big …

India’s aviation boom faces turbulence amid safety concerns

India’s aviation boom faces turbulence amid safety concerns

Published by Sam Flores

“The problem has not been a lack of growth,” said Harsh Vardhan, chairman of Starair Consulting. “It is that every other part of the ecosystem has not been able to keep up with this growth and manage it well.” RELAXING RULES Those concerns came to the fore last year when IndiGo cancelled large numbers of flights after failing to prepare for new pilot fatigue regulations. Industry experts said the temporary suspension of parts of the new rest rules reflected a wider regulatory failure. “The DGCA acts more like a facilitator than a regulator,” said Lumba, the former operations chief, referring to the aviation regulatory body. The dominance of Air India and IndiGo has further complicated the regulator’s task. Seven major airlines have either collapsed or been sold in the past two decades, making it harder to penalise the two big remaining players. “A duopoly works only if operators are mature, responsible and grown adults,” Martin said, adding that in India it more closely resembles a “bunch of territorial gangs”. Last year, the government said the …

Ontario airport set to spend .5 million on electric ground support equipment

Ontario airport set to spend $5.5 million on electric ground support equipment

Published by skeptic

California’s Ontario International Airport (ONT) has been awarded a $~4.15 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to expand its zero emission infrastructure and add more electric ground support equipment (GSE). With the short distances driven at limited speeds under extreme loads, ground handling and support equipment (GHE/GSE) at airports present a nearly ideal use case for battery-electric vehicles. That’s a good thing, too. As demand for on-road fossil fuels drops, airports and airlines – historically responsible for about 4% Earth’s global warming – are becoming a bigger and bigger slice of a rapidly shrinking pie when it comes to the fossil fuel emissions generated by the aviation and air travel industries as a whole, making investment in this sector extra impactful. “This latest investment by the FAA is a tremendous vote of confidence in the work we are doing to build a more sustainable Ontario International Airport,” explains Atif Elkadi, chief executive officer of the Ontario International Airport Authority. “Three VALE grants in three years represents meaningful progress, and this latest award will allow us and our …

Dubai VDX becomes world’s first purpose-built eVTOL vertiport

Dubai VDX becomes world’s first purpose-built eVTOL vertiport

Published by skeptic

The developers behind the new Dubai VDX project are calling it the world’s first purpose-built commercial vertiport – and after receiving a green light from regulators the vertiport is ready to get started. Developed by Skyports Infrastructure, the new commercial vertiport is designed in to enable small, battery-powered aircraft to take off and land vertically without the need for conventional runways. The facility recently received regulatory certification issued by the United Arab Emirates’ General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), which is crucial in its bid to operate commercial eVTOLs throughout the emirate. “This certification is a defining moment for Advanced Air Mobility, demonstrating that the infrastructure, operational standards and regulatory frameworks required for commercial eVTOL services are now a reality,” explains Duncan Walker, CEO, Skyports Infrastructure. “With VDX now certified and construction of the wider Dubai Air Taxi Network progressing at pace, we are one step closer to launching commercial air taxi operations, and unlocking a new era of safe, efficient and sustainable urban transport.” Moving on up DubaiVDX is ready, via Skysports. The facility features …

AEG, Archer Aviation Unveil Plans for Air Taxis at L.A. Live

AEG, Archer Aviation Unveil Plans for Air Taxis at L.A. Live

Published by Daniella Wilson

Are you ready to take an air taxi to watch the Los Angeles Lakers or Kings play at Crypto.com Arena? It could happen sooner than you think. This morning, AEG and Archer Aviation unveiled a multiyear partnership and collaboration to develop downtown L.A.’s first “vertiport” — a vertical takeoff and landing site for electric air taxis — at the sports and entertainment district L.A. Live. The goal is to enable folks to take one of Archer’s Midnight air taxis for a 10- to 20-minute point-to-point trip that, with traffic, could take two hours. The taxis carry four passengers, reach speeds of up to 150 mph and produce far less noise and zero operating emissions compared with traditional helicopters. Archer already has plans for its air taxi network to include SoFi Stadium, USC, LAX, Hollywood Burbank Airport and spots in Santa Monica and Orange County, with the recently acquired Hawthorne Airport serving as its central operational hub. According to the companies, AEG and Archer have completed the initial feasibility study for the site, including land-use and …

This Coin-Sized Device Can Hack a Boeing 737

This Coin-Sized Device Can Hack a Boeing 737

Published by skeptic

The researchers aren’t revealing which port they targeted on the 737, nor are they releasing some details of how their hacking device is able to spoof commands to the plane’s computers. They’ve worked closely with Boeing to share their findings, first disclosing elements of their research to the company more than six years ago, and going so far as to test out and demonstrate their attack in a Boeing facility’s test lab. When WIRED reached out to Boeing about the researchers’ work, it responded in a statement that it had carried out its own review of its components’ designs, installations, and interfaces in response to the researchers’ findings. But it downplayed the practical risk of their physical-access hacking technique. “Our technical experts are confident that the layers of protection in place on the airplane, including within the system design and the operating environment, provide sufficient mitigation to significantly limit the feasibility and risk of real-world attacks,” the statement reads. For their part, the researchers say, Boeing hasn’t told them about any technical fix for the …

The UK is building a fighter jet with Japan and Italy – an aviation expert explains why it could be a defence gamechanger

The UK is building a fighter jet with Japan and Italy – an aviation expert explains why it could be a defence gamechanger

Published by skeptic

The UK is building a next generation fighter jet in collaboration with Italy and Japan. The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) has taken on even greater significance since the collapse of a rival project called the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), a collaboration between France, Germany and Spain. The GCAP aircraft, which will be known in Britain as Tempest, should enter service by 2035. For Britain and Italy, the project fulfils a need to replace their Eurofighter Typhoon fleets with a cutting edge combat jet capable of protecting national borders. The plane could also participate in Nato-led missions, including protecting European skies against capable and determined adversaries. Japan too needs a fighter jet up to the task of protecting a large maritime region against incursions of its airspace. So can these three partner nations succeed where FCAS failed and build a truly state-of-the-art combat aircraft? The most advanced fighter jets in the world are known as “fifth generation”. Tempest is classed as a sixth generation fighter jet. China and Russia have fifth generation aircraft and …

Coulson Aviation debuts new long-term fire retardant specifically designed for aerial firefighting

Coulson Aviation debuts new long-term fire retardant specifically designed for aerial firefighting

Published by skeptic

CFR HALO is a next-generation long-term fire retardant, engineered specifically for modern aircraft, tank systems, and wildfire missions. CFR HALO is the first product from Coulson EmberWorks, the company’s research and development division dedicated to advancing aerial firefighting technologies. Developed through four decades of aerial firefighting operations and collaboration with firefighters, pilots, engineers, and agency partners, CFR HALO has advanced from formulation and internal validation into formal external qualification. The product is being tested with an eye for international markets CFR HALO is undergoing testing with the Centre d’Essais et de Recherche de l’Entente Valabre, known as CEREN, as part of the French qualification process. In parallel, it is advancing through the USDA Forest Service qualification process for inclusion on the Qualified Products List, or QPL. Together, these programs will independently evaluate CFR HALO’s performance, environmental profile, and operational suitability through two of the world’s leading aerial firefighting qualification systems, building a technical foundation for agency acceptance in Australia and key South American markets. Updating fire retardant for modern aerial firefighting “Wildfires have changed. The …

Itochu to buy 50% of US aircraft lessor Aviation Capital from Tokyo Century

Itochu to buy 50% of US aircraft lessor Aviation Capital from Tokyo Century

Published by Sam Flores

TOKYO, Aug 3 : Japanese trading house Itochu will buy 50 per cent of U.S. aircraft leasing business Aviation Capital Group (ACG) from Tokyo Century for $1.946 billion, it said on Monday, expanding its aviation operations on expectations of continued growth in the leasing market. • Itochu said the deal will also give it a role in the management of ACG, which is wholly owned by a Tokyo Century subsidiary. • Itochu leases more than 90 aircraft and engines to airlines worldwide. • Itochu has identified aviation as a key growth area and expects the acquisition to accelerate the expansion of related businesses and establish aviation as a new earnings pillar, Chief Financial Officer Hiroyuki Naka told a news conference. • The company aims to boost profit from its aviation-related business to 50 billion yen ($319 million) within five years, from an expected 16 billion yen in its 2026 financial year, Naka said. • The deal is scheduled to complete in the third quarter of the current financial year. ($1 = 156.7300 yen) Source link