NATO Interceptors Scrambled 10 Times In 6 Hours To Shadow Russian Bombers And Fighters Near Alliance Airspace
Combat helicopters crews destroy aircraft at airfield of mock enemy during qualifying stage of Aviadarts contest
Boeing and Alaska Airlines Finalize Order for 737 MAX Jets
PR
Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Alaska Airlines announced today the companies have completed an agreement for 23 737-9 airplanes and 15 options. With this agreement, the carrier’s 737 MAX order book, including options and lease commitments, stands at 120 airplanes.
This deal was first announced in December 2020 as a commitment and will be reflected on Boeing’s Orders & Deliveries website.
Alaska Airlines received its first 737-9 in January and began revenue service on March 1. Its second 737-9 entered service on March 18, with two additional 737-9s scheduled to begin revenue service next week. The airline is embarking on a fleet modernization program to further improve the efficiency and sustainability of its operations. The 737-9 – equipped with new, more fuel-efficient engines and improved aerodynamics – will use 20% less fuel and reduce emissions by 20% per seat compared to airplanes it replaces.
Read more...
Boeing Nets $1.6B for P-8A Poseidon Submarine Hunters
press release
The U.S. Navy today awarded Boeing [NYSE: BA] a $1.6 billion production contract for the next 11 P-8A Poseidon aircraft. Nine aircraft will join the U.S. Navy fleet and two will go to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), a cooperative partner in the P-8A joint program since 2009. The contract brings the total number of U.S. Navy P-8A aircraft under contract to 128 and the RAAF total to 14.
“The P-8A continues to be an invaluable asset and these additional aircraft will help deliver expanded maritime patrol and reconnaissance capabilities to the fleet,” said Capt. Eric Gardner, program manager for the U.S. Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Program Office.
The P-8A is a long-range anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare aircraft used by the U.S Navy. It’s vital for intelligence gathering, surveillance reconnaissance and search and rescue. Deployed around the world, with 103 aircraft in service and more than 300,000 flight-hours, the P-8’s performance and reliability delivers confidence to customers operating in an uncertain world.
“We continue to hear feedback from deployed Navy squadrons who tell us the P-8A is exceeding expectations”, said Stu Voboril, vice president and program manager for Boeing’s P-8A program. “Our focus is on delivering the world’s best maritime patrol aircraft. That only happens when teams truly collaborate, listen and focus on customer priorities.”
The P-8 is militarized with maritime weapons, a modern open mission system architecture and commercial-like support for affordability. It’s the principal aircraft with the ability to detect and track submarines. The aircraft is modified to include a bomb bay and pylons for weapons. It has two weapons stations on each wing and can carry 129 sonobuoys. The aircraft is also fitted with an in-flight refueling system.
A military derivative of the Boeing 737 Next-Generation airplane, the P-8 combines the most advanced weapon system in the world with the cost advantages of the most popular airliner on the planet. The P-8 shares 86% commonality with the commercial 737NG, providing enormous supply chain economies of scale in production and support.
The P-8 has two variants: The P-8I, flown by the Indian Navy, and the P-8A Poseidon, flown by the U.S. Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force and the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force. The RAAF has acquired the Boeing aircraft through the Foreign Military Sales process and will receive a variant designed and produced for the U.S. Navy called the P-8A Poseidon.
For more information on Defense, Space & Security, visit www.boeing.com. Follow us on Twitter: @BoeingDefense and @BoeingSpace. Read more...
Financial Relief, Safe Reopening of Borders, and Planning for the Safe Restart of Operations – Main Priorities for Aviation in Africa
PR
Amman – The International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) outlined three priorities for African governments to ensure that the airline, travel and transport industry survives the COVID-19 crisis and is able to support economic recovery, growth and development throughout the continent.
The three priorities are:
- Continued financial relief and the release of committed aid and blocked funds
- Safe reopening of borders
- Planning for the safe restart of operations
Continued financial relief and the release of committed aid and blocked funds
In 2020 a handful of African airlines secured US$ 2.04 billion in government aid. Most of this (US$ 2.02bn) was distributed through direct government loans, equity financing and cash injections. Despite this, 8 airlines in Africa filed for bankruptcy or entered business administration over the past 12 months.
Over US$ 30bn has been pledged for air transport and tourism in Africa by International finance agencies and other institutions including the African Development Bank, African Export Import Bank, African Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, most of this relief is yet to reach the airlines and other aviation stakeholders in need. On top of this $ 601 million in airline funds remains blocked in Africa across 17countries (Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burundi, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sudan, Gabon, Cameroon, Chad, Congo and Zimbabwe) putting further pressure on airlines as they struggle for survival.
“African airlines posted a combined US$2bn loss in 2020. This year we expect only a slight improvement (US$1.7bn loss) as the struggle with COVID-19 continues. Looking ahead it’s unlikely that traffic will return to post COVID-19 levels until 2023. Financial relief measures are still desperately needed, particularly those that do not increase the industry’s debt burden. Additional relief measures and activating existing pledges are essential,” said Kamil Al Awadhi, IATA Regional Vice President Africa and the Middle East.
Government relief comes in many forms. Cost reductions in terms of taxes and charges will help. And the release of the $ 601 million of airline revenues that are currently blocked from repatriation in certain governments would be an immediate boost in some markets. Governments will need a financially viable air transport sector to energize economic recovery from COVID-19. Many of Africa’s airlines were weak even before the crisis. Reducing costs and freeing blocked cash has long been a priority for African aviation. If ever there was a time for decisive government action on these issues, it is now,” said Al Awadhi.
Safe reopening of borders
The African Union has taken leadership in preparing for the safe restart of aviation in Africa through its “Saving Lives, Economies, and Livelihoods" campaign. This promotes collaboration between different sectors of governments involved in the crisis including Ministries of Health, Transport and IT. IATA supports the AU’s efforts and urges governments in Africa to:
- Replace quarantine measures with testing
Today 20 countries in Africa have quarantine measures in place. Quarantine essentially means borders are closed. It is critical that those African governments implement effective alternatives to quarantine measures such as pre-departure testing for international travel, especially from countries with a similar risk-profile. - Accept a reasonable validity period of five (5) days for COVID-19 testing for travel
Taking into account the waiting period for COVID-19 testing, the turnaround time of the results, and the accessibility of testing facilities on the continent, we urge governments in Africa to consider accepting the AU recommended validity period of five (5) days for COVID-19 testing for travel across the continent. - Avoid COVID-19 vaccination as a mandatory pre-entry and exit criteria
In line with the WHO, the airline industry does not support mandatory vaccination as a precondition to fly. Many potential travelers, particularly in Africa, cannot be vaccinated or will not have access to vaccines. Along with testing and track & trace capabilities, vaccination can be a tool to support the safe re-opening of borders without quarantine.
Planning for a safe Restart
Preparing the industry to safely restart after a year or more of disruption will take careful planning and advanced preparation. Governments need to develop the benchmarks and plans that would enable a safe, orderly and timely restart. That means working with governments in at least two areas:
- Establishing operational restart plans
Safety remains the industry’s main priority and is a critical pre-condition for restarting operations and for the build-up of traffic thereafter. Restarting an airline is not like flipping a switch; as such it is important to understand government plans. Airlines need to ready their crew, technical personnel and aircraft. After a year of lockdowns, this requires refresher training, checks and coordination. On top of that airlines will need time to market their services so that there are fare-paying passengers when operations resume. - Putting tools in place to manage new COVID-19 testing and vaccine requirements
Testing and vaccinations will play a role as the pandemic comes under control and economies ramp up, including the travel sector. Efficient digital management of health credentials is vital to restart. Manual processes will not be able to cope with volumes once the recovery begins. Digital solutions must be secure, work with existing systems, align with global standards and respect data privacy.
IATA has developed IATA Travel Pass to manage health credentials, protect against fraud and enable a convenient travel process. It is being trialed by a number of airlines and airports around the world, including Ethiopian Airlines and RwandAir in Africa. Another major African carrier is expected to come on board soon. IATA Travel Pass compliments the work being done by the AU to safely manage travel.
Currently IATA Travel Pass manages COVID-19 test requirements. Once global standards to record digital vaccines credentials have been developed, the app can also be used by travelers to manage their proof of immunization. The WHO is currently developing these global standards and we urge African governments to adopt these for those people who have been vaccinated and plan to retrospectively record those who have already been vaccinated.
Notes to Editors:
African Aviation - 2020 in Numbers:
- A 69% drop in passenger demand in Africa compared to 66% globally. Passenger demand is back to 1998 levels.
- A 61% drop in capacity in Africa compared to 57% globally
- Air cargo was a bright spot for African carriers, cargo volumes increased by 1% in Africa, this translates into high cargo revenues, which provided needed support to airlines.
- However, this was not enough to offset the losses from the passenger side of the business.
- African airlines lost US$2bn
- Airlines in Africa lost $49.63 for every passenger they flew in 2020 compared to a loss globally of $66.04
- Connectivity fell by 90% at the low point of the crisis. Before the crisis there were 970 unique international routes at the low point of the crisis there was 100. And the density of those connections has become much thinner.
- Job losses could grow to 4.5 million in Africa in aviation and related industries
- GDP could fall by up to $37billion supported by aviation in the region
Read more...
IATA Urges Governments in the Middle East to Work Together to Develop a Roadmap to Restart Aviation
PR
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called on governments in the Middle East to develop re-start plans to safely re-link their citizens, businesses and economies to global markets when the COVID-19 epidemiological situation permits. IATA also called for regional coordination to ensure that the plans can be efficiently implemented and urged governments to remain vigilant about the industry’s financial situation.
“Re-establishing air connectivity will energize the economic recovery from COVID-19. With millions of jobs at risk from the prolonged shutdown, not a day should be lost once the epidemiological situation enables a re-opening. Restarting safely after a year or more in lockdown will need careful preparations. At the national level it is important that governments work with industry, so everyone understands the benchmarks that need to be achieved to facilitate the lifting of travel restrictions. And at the regional level, where traffic is expected to ramp-up first, it is critical that governments are talking to each other so that all parties are aligned and ready for a restart,” said Kamil Al Awadhi, IATA Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East.
IATA data shows January air passenger traffic in the region was down 82.3% compared to January 2019. The ongoing crisis puts over 1.7 million jobs in the Middle East and $105 billion in GDP at risk.
“This is a unique situation. But we have good practices to rely on. Safety is the top priority for anything associated with aviation. That is because governments have long established global best practices for working together with industry and with each other. This same approach will help the re-start. There are two ends to every route. Both must be prepared or the restart cannot happen,” said Al Awadhi.
IATA highlighted two critical areas of areas where governments need to work together:
- Operational restart
A successful operational restart will include bringing aircraft and terminals back into service. Airlines need to ready their crew, technical personnel and aircraft. After a year of lockdowns, this requires refresher training and checks. A regional overview is needed to (1) ensure that the one country’s restart qualifications are accepted by its regional partners and (2) ensure that sufficient infrastructure capacity is ready to meet demand as markets unlock.
- Travel Credentials
Testing and vaccinations will play a role in opening borders to travel as the pandemic comes under control. Simple, efficient, and harmonized standards for what credentials people will need to travel will boost consumer confidence and give strength to the recovery.
The ICAO Council’s recent approval of requirements for globally accepted COVID-19 test certificates, including the technology framework for secure digital versions and the future incorporation of vaccination certificates provides a global framework. Cooperation for a harmonized implementation across the Middle East will put the region on a solid footing for recovery.
IATA Travel Pass will help to conveniently manage health credentials, while protecting against fraud. “With Qatar Airways already piloting IATA Travel Pass and Emirates, Etihad and Gulf Air signed-up for trials, the Gulf is at the forefront of preparations,” said Al Awadhi.
Continued financial relief essential
The financial trauma of the COVID-19 crisis continues. In 2020 Middle East airlines posted losses of $7.1billion in 2020; a loss of $68.47 for each passenger flown. With traffic at less than 20% of 2019 levels, the cash burn continues even with severe cost-cutting.
Airlines in the region received $4.8 billion in government aid in 2020. Most of this support ($4.1 billion) was distributed through direct cash injections. Despite this several airlines in the Middle East remain at risk of bankruptcy or business administration.
“A financially viable air transport sector will be needed to energize the recovery. Government relief for airlines has avoided massive failures that would jeopardize a restart. This has not been uniform across the region. With no clear timeline to recovery the situation is far from resolved. Governments that have provided relief will need to be prepared for more. And governments that have not yet stepped-up must recognize the growing risks to their economies as the crisis drags on,” said Al Awadhi.
Notes to Editors:
Middle East Aviation - 2020 in Numbers:
- A 72% drop in passenger demand in the Middle East compared to 66% globally. Passenger demand is back to 1998 levels.
- A 63% drop in capacity in Middle East compared to 57% globally
- Air cargo was a bright spot for Middle East carriers, cargo volumes only dropped 10%.
- However, this was not enough to offset the losses from the passenger side of the business.
- Middle East airlines lost $7.1bn
- Airlines in the Middle East lost -$68.47 for every passenger they flew in 2020 compared to a loss globally of $66.04
- Connectivity fell by 60% at the low point of the crisis. Before the crisis there were 1060 unique international routes at the low point of the crisis there was 440. And the density of those connections has become much thinner.
- Job losses could grow to 1.7 million in Middle East in aviation and related industries
- GDP could fall by up to $105 billion supported by aviation in the region
Read more...
Rolls-Royce has officially started building the world’s largest aero-engine, UltraFan®
press release
Rolls-Royce has officially started building the world’s largest aero-engine, UltraFan®, which will help redefine sustainable air travel for decades to come.
Work on the first module is underway at our dedicated DemoWorks facility in Derby, UK, and the demonstrator engine, which has a fan diameter of 140 inches, will be completed by the end of the year.
The engine is the basis for a potential new family of UltraFan engines able to power both narrowbody and widebody aircraft and deliver a 25% fuel efficiency improvement compared with the first generation of Trent engine.
That performance improvement is crucial to achieving aviation sustainability. Gas turbines will continue to be the bedrock of long-haul aviation for many years, and UltraFan’s efficiency will help improve the economics of an industry transition to more sustainable fuels, which are likely to be more expensive in the short-term than traditional jet fuel. The first test run of the engine will be conducted on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
Significant investment has been made to develop the UltraFan demonstrator and associated technologies by Rolls-Royce and a variety of funding agencies, including the Aerospace Technology Institute and Innovate UK (United Kingdom), LuFo (Germany) and Clean Sky Joint Undertaking (European Union).
UK Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, said: “The UltraFan project is a perfect example of how we are working with industry to deliver green, sustainable flight for decades to come. Backed with significant government support, this project represents the scale of ambition for Britain's crucial aerospace sector.
“Companies like Rolls-Royce are playing a critical role as we build back greener from the pandemic and we are committed to giving the whole aerospace sector the support it needs to innovate and reach new heights.”
Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce, President – Civil Aerospace, said: “This is an exciting moment for all of us at Rolls-Royce. Our first engine demonstrator, UF001, is now coming together and I’m really looking forward to seeing it built and ready for test. It is arriving at a time when the world is seeking ever more sustainable ways to travel in a post-COVID 19 world, and it makes me and all our team very proud to know we are part of the solution.
“I am delighted that the UK and German governments have supported us in making these significant ground-breaking technology investments. The Aerospace Technology Institute and LuFo programmes, as well as the EU’s Clean Sky, have all helped bring us a step closer to realising the enormous environmental and economic benefits of UltraFan.”
As engine build starts, other key parts are already coming together for delivery to Derby. Work is underway on UltraFan’s carbon titanium fan system in Bristol, UK, and its 50MW Power Gearbox, which is powerful enough to run 500 family cars, in Dahlewitz, Germany.
UltraFan is part of Rolls-Royce’s IntelligentEngine vision – for example each fan blade has a digital twin which stores real-life test data, allowing engineers to predict in-service performance. When on test at Rolls-Royce’s new £90m Testbed 80 facility, data can be taken from more than 10,000 parameters, detecting the tiniest of vibrations at a rate of up to 200,000 samples per second. Data that helps us understand our engines and further improve them.
Key engineering features of the engine include:
- A new, proven, Advance 3 core architecture, combined with our ALECSys lean burn combustion system, to deliver maximum fuel burn efficiency and low emissions.
- Carbon titanium fan blades and a composite casing that reduce weight by up to 1,500lb per aircraft.
- Advanced ceramic matrix composite (CMC) components that operate more effectively in high pressure turbine temperatures.
- A geared design that delivers efficient power for the high-thrust, high bypass ratio engines of the future.
more images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rolls-royceplc/albums/72157644584413758
Bell and U.S. Army Advance Development of V-280 Valor and Aviation Modernization
PRESS RELEASE
Bell is executing the second phase of a Competitive Demonstration and Risk Reduction contract to inform the imminent program of record competition for U.S. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA)
Fort Worth, Texas (March 31, 2021) – Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company and the U.S. Army have agreed to terms on the execution of the second phase of the Competitive Demonstration and Risk Reduction (CD&RR) contract that was awarded in March 2020 for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program. This new contract is an important milestone and testament to the continued momentum for Army modernization. Bell’s flight-proven V-280 Valor design advances from an aircraft with transformational speed and survivability towards a low-risk weapons system ready to support joint combined arms and maneuver operations around the world.
“This is the next step to a program of record and Bell is proud to closely collaborate with the Army to transition our flight-proven V-280 Valor into a highly-capable and sustainable FLRAA weapons system,” said Keith Flail, executive vice president, Advanced Vertical Lift Systems at Bell. “Bell and our Team Valor teammates continue to optimize our platform based on research, design, and thorough flight-testing of the aircraft to deliver an outstanding capability for the Army.”
During phase one of the CD&RR, Bell provided detailed iterations on the V-280 design, data to highlight the feasibility of executing the program of record requirements, and executed trade studies using model-based systems engineering. This work will continue under phase two as the Army finalizes requirements for the program of record planned for 2022.
Bell has already safely delivered groundbreaking performance and successfully completed a rapid design, build, and test program with the V-280. Since its first flight in 2017, the V-280 team has executed a rigorous flight test program flying more than 200 hours through over 160 individual test flights that delivered critical data to validate Bell’s digital models and performance.
As the FLRAA competition moves to a program of record, Bell continues to take a holistic approach to transition the V-280 to a weapons system that ensures exceptional performance and is affordable throughout the lifecycle. From the outset, the Bell V-280 Valor was designed for efficiency—using simplified and inherently reliable designs, adhering to Army Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) requirements, reducing maintenance costs, and increasing reliability. Bell applied digital design and manufacturing technologies, included maintenance as part of the design process, and used emerging commercial processes to bring a comprehensive view of digital models, processing, and analysis. This methodology has reduced programmatic risk, improved lifecycle maintenance and servicing outcomes, increasing program affordability.
“This aircraft is not an engineering science project. The V-280 tiltrotor provides a critical and combat-proven capability needed to maintain our U.S. military’s ability to deter adversaries by radically improving over the current fleet’s speed, range, versatility, and sustainability. Our program has provided evidence that the V-280 is a transformational long-range assault aircraft solution for the Army and we are proud to move forward as a team to continue to mature the weapons system,” said Ryan Ehinger, vice president and program director, FLRAA at Bell. Read more...
Volar 1700km sin motor, nuevo record de Europa de vuelo a vela
Volando a onda en la cara sur de los Pirineos, alcanzando más de 7000m e internándose en el mar 80km
https://blog.sandglasspatrol.com/volar-17000km-sin-motor-nuevo-record-de-europa-de-vuelo-a-vela/
Nouveau record d’Europe : 1700km en planeur !
Baptiste-Innocent
Gil Souviron
Le 21 Mars dernier, quelques jours seulement après son vol de 1 515 km au-dessus des Pyrénées, Gil Souviron, accompagné de Baptiste Innocent, a réitéré l’exploit en battant le record d’Europe du plus grand vol en planeur, avec un total de 1 702 km parcourus !
Récit de ce vol exceptionnel.
Récit de ce vol exceptionnel.
https://www.ffvp.fr/nouveau-record-deurope-1700km-en-planeur
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