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COVID-19​

AIR TRANSPORT

Air travel crisis could see 46 million jobs lost globally

Dubai Airport

New figures from the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) estimate the eventual damage done by the coronavirus could see up to 46 million jobs lost worldwide in aviation, tourism and the wider sectors supported by air travel. The cross-sector body says that normally, air travel and tourism support some 87.7 million jobs worldwide but now over 50% of these could be at risk due to the Covid-19 pandemic. ATAG predicts that 4.8 million jobs in the aviation sector itself could be lost by the beginning of next year.

Boeing forecasts 11% drop in airliner deliveries over next decade

Boeing

Boeing has published its latest Commercial Market Outlook which foresees a fall of 11% in airliner deliveries in the next decade due to the effects of the coronavirus crisis. However, it predicts that air travel will return to growth, with a long-term forecast of 43,110 new commercial aircraft needed over the next 20 years and 2.1 million new personnel required. (see ‘By the Numbers’.) 

AEROSPACE

In-flight Covid-19 risk less than ‘being hit by lightning’

Airbus

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has revealed the results of research conducted by airliner OEMs which supported evidence that the chance of contracting Covid-19 onbord an airliner cabin is one in 27.3 million passengers, or less likely than being struck by lightning. Using published reports, IATA found that there had only been 44 secondary cases of transmisson on board aircraft out of 1.2 billion passengers carried in 2020. These findings were backed up by studies from three OEMs, (Airbus, Boeing and Embraer) which used high-fidelity CFD simulations and live trials to model the spread of particles in an airliner cabin. Airbus research found that out of 10,000 droplets caused by a cough, a combination of masks, gravity and airflow means that a maximum of five particles will reach the person sitting in the next seat – less than a cough 6ft away.

Boeing produced similar results – finding that an airline cabin is equivalent to being 7ft away from a coughing person in other environments such as a conference room. Embraer’s studies found that wearing a mask decreased the mass of a cough by 0.02%. Summing up: “The risk of a passenger contracting Covid-19 while on board appears very low,” said Dr David Powell, IATA’s Medical Advisor.


DEFENCE

Armed drone war erupts in Nagorno-Karabakh

Azerbaijian MoD

Simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh have seen the use of armed drones to target ground forces. Azerbaijan, supported by Turkey, has been reported to be operating the Turkish TB2 Bayraktar UCAV, as well as the Israeli Harop loitering ‘kamikaze’ drone, with footage of Armenian T-72 tanks, artillery pieces and SAM systems being struck by armed UAVs.

India tests new missiles for armed forces

India has test flown a new supersonic antisubmarine missile, allowing submerged targets to be engaged from 400nm away. Tested on 5 October, DRDO’s Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo, (SMART), is a missile that carries a lightweight torpedo and is designed to give shore units or warships a long-range stand-off antisubmarine capability.

  • Meanwhile, on 9 October, the DRDO conducted the first live firing trial of RUDRAM, the first indigenously-developed anti-radar missile (ARM) from India. The long-range missile was fired from an IAF Sukhoi Su-30MKI at a radar target on Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha. 

Tempest could generate £25bn for UK economy, finds study ​

BAE Systems

An independent study on the value of the Tempest combat aircraft programme by PwC has reported that it would generate £25bn to the UK economy in the first 30 years – with 20,000 jobs being supported annually between 2026-2050. This excludes export sales or spin-off R&D value. As an example of the latest technology involved, the ‘MultiFunction Radio Frequency System’ integrated radar/sensor being developed for Tempest by Leonado UK will see the data equivalent of the internet traffic of a large city being captured by the aircraft’s mission systems every second.

GENERAL AVIATION

1,000th TBM turboprop rolled out

French GA manufacturer Daher Aircraft has rolled out the 1,000th TBM single-engine turboprop since the aircraft was first produced in the late 1980s by SOCATA. The TBM 940 was rolled out from the manufacturer’s Tarbes final assembly line in France for a US-based customer, with the official handover to be in Pompano Beach, Florida. Acquired by Daher ten years ago, the number of TBMs produced just in the past decade is now more than when the original TBM 700 was first launched 30 years ago. The latest model, the TBM 940, features autothrottle, Garmin G3000 touchscreen avionics with the new HomeSafe emergency autoland function, which will automatically land the aircraft if the pilot is incapacitated.

Airbus launches A220derived ACJ TwoTwenty 

Airbus has unveiled a new product in its ACJ VIP/Corporate jet range – the ACJ TwoTwenty, a large-cabin business aircraft derived from the single-aisle A220 airliner. The TwoTwenty, developed in partnership with luxury cabin specialist Comlux, would have a range of 5,000nm and have 723m2 2 of cabin space for 18 passengers. The company says that the ACJ TwoTwenty will have two-thirds more cabin space than competing bizjets yet have one-third of the operating costs. The company has announced it has already won the first six orders for the bizjet, with two orders from Comlux and a further four from undisclosed customers. Entry into service is scheduled for 2023. 

SPACEFLIGHT

Space agencies sign up to Artemis

Accords Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, UAE, UK and the US have signed up to the NASA-proposed Artemis Accords, which seeks to establish a practical set of principles to guide deep space exploration co-operation and broaden NASA’s Artemis Moon mission into a wider international effort. The Accords cover lunar mining and resource exploitation, as well as the protection of historic space sites and hardware.

Europe’s space sector is set to benefit too, with ESA contracting Airbus to study a heavy lunar payload lander, while ThalesAleniaSpace will build two modules, (I-HAB and ESPRIT) on the Gateway station. Thales UK will contribute the chemical refuelling system for the ESPRIT module.

German rocket company to launch from Norway 

Rocket Factory Augsburg

German space access start-up Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) has signed an agreement to launch its mini-launchers from Norway in 2022. The agreement will see RFA operate its RFA ONE small-satellite rocket from Andøya Space Center in northern Norway. 

AEROSPACE

ZeroAvia flies largest-yet hydrogen-powered aircraft in UK

ZeroAvia

Alternative fuel specialist company ZeroAvia has announced that it has made the first flight of a Piper M350 powered with hydrogen fuel cells on 24 September. The six-seat aircraft, which was used as a testbed for a battery-electric flight in June, was flown from the company’s research facility in Cranfield. (See ‘Airbus spearheads zero-carbon moonshot’.)

Q-Starling breaks cover

Samad Aerospace

UK start-up Samad Aerospace has unveiled a new concept for a two-seat hybrid-electric eVTOL – the Q-Starling.The personal air vehicle would be powered by a hybrid-electric drivetrain and use biofuel or sustainable aviation fuel, with a centrally mounted lift fan providing downward thrust in the hover. Its range would be 500nm with a cruise speed of 250kt.

Autonomous B-N Islander to be developed 

The UK’s Britten-Norman is to work with UAV and AI specialists Blue Bear Systems to develop a semi-autonomous version of its classic Islander STOL utility and small airliner. The first phase would see a semiautonomous version of the twin-engine aircraft developed, replacing the need for a co-pilot and be available by the mid-2020s. A semiautonomous one-pilot Islander, says BrittenNorman, will “present a significant efficiency increase and cost-saving for regional air operators”. Further in the future, it is envisaged that a fully unpiloted autonomous Islander could be ready in the 2030s. Around 750 Islanders are still in service around the globe. 

AIR TRANSPORT

Last two British Airways 747s fly off into retirement

British Airways

On 8 October the final two Boeing 747-400s from the British Airways fleet of 28 Jumbo Jets, took off from a rainy London Heathrow for St Athan, Wales and Kemble airport for storage. The flights close an era of 47 years of the 747 in service with BA, after the airline deciding to phase them out in July. The retirement of BA’s 747 fleet has been accelerated by the coronavirus crisis which has seen long-haul travel decimated. 

Latest bail-outs for crisis-stricken airlines

Flag carrier Qatar Airways has received a cash injection of $1.95bn from the Qatar Government as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on airlines. The carrier recorded net losses of $1.9bn up until March 2020. The airline is now serving 90 destinations in its network, down from the 160 it flew to before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, China Eastern Airlines is to receive a cash injection of $4.60bn from four state-owned investors (China Life Investment Holding Ltd, Shanghai Jiushi Group, China Reform Holdings Corp and China Tourism Group), as part of a move to diversify ownership. The airline recorded a net loss of $1.2bn in for the first half of 2020.


News in brief