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Intelligence / Analysis / Comment
A new think paper from European ATM provider Eurocontrol has highlighted the challenges and vulnerability of the European Route Charges System which has faced significant pressure during the pandemic. Grounded flights and no traffic due to Covid-19 meant that the ‘User Pays’ model caused a massive revenue shortfall for European ANSP (air navigation service providers) which will reach €8.6bn by the end of the year, with annual income from airlines falling from around €8bn to just €3.2bn. This will have to be passed on to airlines in the form of higher charges in the coming years, says the paper.
British Airways
On 8 November, the US reopened its borders to fully vaccinated passengers from Europe after a 20-month ban.
The reopening saw British Airways flight BA001 and Virgin Atlantic flight VS3, both using Airbus A350s, perform a unique synchronised parallel take-off from London Heathrow to New York JFK to mark the end of more than 600 days of pandemic travel restrictions.
The long-awaited reopening of transatlantic flights between the US and Europe represents a huge boost to the airline industry with the US accounting for 40% of BA’s business. Pre-pandemic, in 2019, 22million passengers and 900,000t of freight flew between the UK and US.
Airports group ACI Europe has released an updated outlook on the recovery of passenger air traffic in Europe, with the recovery gathering pace thanks to an easing of pandemic travel restrictions.
It forecasts passenger air travel improving from an estimated -60% this year compared to 2019 volumes, to -32% in 2022.
However, the group estimates that a full recovery will not occur until 2025. The group also said that Europe’s airports lost 1.26billion passengers in 2021, a decrease of -62% compared to 2019 but volumes were up 70% compared to 2020.
Worst affected during the summer season were airports in the UK (-71%), Ireland (-68%) and Finland (-78%).
FIRST NEWS FROM DAS21
AirbusThe show saw Airbus launch a new member of the A350 family, the A350F cargo variant with orders for seven A350Fs from Air Lease Corp and four from CMA CGM Group. The airframer ended the week with 408 potential aircraft orders (269 firm orders plus 139 commitments), the largest of which was for 255 A321neo family aircraft from equity firm Indigo Partners which was distributed among its partner airlines Wizz Air (75 A321neos and 27 A321XLRs), Frontier (91 A321neos), Volaris (39 A321neos) and JetSMART (21 A321neos and two A321XLRx). Airbus Defence also received orders for two A330MRTTs from the UAE Air Force, plus two A400Ms for the Indonesian MoD.
This year’s Dubai Air Show also saw the international air show debut of Boeing’s newest widebody, the 777X, which took part in the flying display. Boeing ended the show with 101 orders, including 72 737 MAXs for Indian airline Akasa Air. Among other Boeing orders were four aircraft from Air Tanzania, three 777-300s from UAE-based Sky One and two 777Fs from Emirates. At the show, Boeing also announced that its MRO facility in Gatwick, UK, will be the company’s newest passenger-to-freighter line, converting 737s to cargo aircraft. The first aircraft through the facility will be a 737-800 for Icelease, which placed an order for 11 737BCFs at the show.
Revealed earlier this year at the MAKS exhibition in Moscow and making its international debut at the Dubai Air Show was Sukhoi’s Su-75 ‘Checkmate’ fifth-generation single-engine stealth fighter mock-up, which was displayed along with weapons in its own pavilion. At the show, Sukhoi parent group UAC revealed that the first few Checkmate prototypes are now under construction at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur factory in Siberia. The company also revealed that an uncrewed UCAV version of the Su-75 was also under development. Aimed at the export market, Russia’s Rostec said that the company had held talks with the UAE about co-production and supplying systems for the stealth fighter.
AeS
Making its debut in mock-up form at the Dubai Air Show was the Calidus B-350, a two-seat, single-turboprop light attack/ISR aircraft with 13 hardpoints for weapons. The aircraft is larger than the previous Calidus B-250 COIN design and contemporaries, such as the Super Tucano, with a wingspan of 50ft and a MTOW of 20,000lb. The aircraft will be powered by a 2,600shp P&WC PW127 turboprop.
FULL DAS21 REPORT IN THE JANUARY ISSUE OF AEROSPACE
AG
Russia has been the subject of widespread international condemnation after conducting an anti-satellite test which created over 1,500 trackable pieces of space debris. The test involved using a ground-based missile to hit a decommissioned Kosmos 1408 military satellite on 15 November. Astronauts aboard the ISS, which passes near the debris cloud every 90 minutes, closed off parts of the ISS as a precaution for two days following the test.
NASA has announced that its Artemis programme to return humans to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years will now not meet the goal of a landing in 2024 set by the previous Trump administration. A combination of funding shortfalls for the landing system and Orion capsule, as well as the need to develop new spacesuits for the lunar surface meant that the earliest date for a human landing will be 2025. In addition, a legal challenge by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin over awarding the landing contract to SpaceX also delayed progress. While the SLS rocket is set to make its first flight in early 2022, the first crewed flight of Artemis will be a circumlunar flyby in 2024.
With the retirement of the Hawk T1/T1A training aircraft now brought forward from 2030 to 2022, the UK Ministry of Defence is seeking a new contractor-based aviation training service from the third quarter of 2022, following the collapse of the Air Support to Defence Operational Training (ASDOT) programme. Valued at around £100m, the MoD’s new medium to fast speed Operational Readiness Training (ORT) aerial support service tender, issued on 29 October, includes a requirement for air-to-air, target, threat simulation, and mission augmentation training.
Meanwhile, Affinity Flying Training Services has been awarded a £65m 12-year contract from the UK MoD for four additional Textron Texan T-6C basic trainers to boost the throughput of pilots at MFTS.
Chinese Internet
Photographs on social media have confirmed that China has developed a rumoured two-seat variant of its J-20 stealth fighter. The aircraft was spotted during taxi tests at Chengdu’s Aerospace Plant, confirming long-running speculation about a new variant of the fighter. The twin-seat J-20 is the first two-seat stealth fighter in the world, with other aircraft (F-22, F-35 and Su-57) all being single-seat. This may indicate a training role or as a specialised two-seat strike or ‘loyal wingman’ command fighter.
Embraer
Embraer has revealed a new family of four sustainable concept aircraft to reach its target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Each aircraft is fitted with a different propulsion system and fuel type, comprising the nine-seat hybrid electric Energia Hybrid E9-HE to be ready by 2030, the nine-seat battery-powered Energia Electric E9-FE and the 19-seat hydrogen-powered H2 Fuel Cell Energia – both to be ready in 2035 – and the 35-50 seat H2 Gas Turbine Energia hydrogen or JetA/SAF turbine aircraft which is scheduled to be ready in 2040.
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce has announced that it believes ‘Spirit of Innovation’ has broken the world speed record for an electric-powered aircraft – with the racer reaching a top speed of 387.4mph in runs at Boscombe Down, UK, on 16 November. The claims, to be verified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), saw the aircraft break three existing electric flight records, with a recorded speed of 345.4mph over 3km, 330mph over 15km and a climb to 3,000m in 202seconds.
The organiser of a ‘grey’ charter flight in which footballer Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson were killed in a crash in January 2019 in the English Channel off the coast of Guernsey, has been found guilty of ‘endangering the safety of an aircraft’ and jailed for 18 months by Cardiff Crown Court. The organiser of the flight, which was flying Sala from Nantes, France, to Cardiff in a night flight, David Henderson, had previously admitted to trying to arrange a passenger flight without permission. The jury also heard how the pilot, Ibbotson, did not hold a commercial pilot’s licence, IFR, or current rating on the Piper Malibu.
A joint trial between easyJet and Bristol Airport has demonstrated a 97% reduction in CO2 2 emissions during aircraft turnarounds. The demonstration, set to run for six months, saw diesel-powered vehicles and ground support equipment, such as steps, baggage trollies and loaders replaced by electric equipment. Meanwhile, rival Ryanair has invested €7.3m in electric ground handling at 11 airports around Europe, partnering with Menzies Aviation at Amsterdam Schiphol, Gothenburg-Landvetter, and Oslo Airport, along with Azul Handling at Alicante, Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Mallorca, Seville, Santiago and Valencia airports.