As coronavirus has tremendously impacted the aviation industry, it’s likely that when the pandemic subsides there will be a significant difference as to how planes ensure a new standard of safety.
When it comes to a solution to being in a crowded space in a post-coronavirus world, Italian aircraft interior manufacturing company Aviointeriors released their designs that meet requirements for social distancing.
The designs were slated to be unveiled at this year’s Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, however it was canceled due to the pandemic. Instead, the company proceeded to show their ideas online.
The first is a new seating concept called “Janus,” after the two-faced Roman god. The Janus seating plan is a two-faced seat, where the middle seat is turned around to face the rear of the aircraft. A transparent shield that wraps around the middle seat would “ensure the maximum isolation between passengers seated next to each other,” according to Avionteriors.
With the wraparound shield and seating arrangement, each passenger would have their own private guarded space, with people in aisle seats even protected from those walking up and down the aircraft.
The other seat design Aviointeriors has proposed is called “Glassafe,” a transparent cocoon that attaches to the top of existing airplane seats.
The attachable bubble works by “creating an isolated volume around the passenger in order to avoid or minimize contacts and interactions via air between passenger and passenger,” they said.
Source: Travel + Leisure
Boeing withdrew from a deal with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, in which case an American company could gain control over the release of regional passenger airliners.
The torn general agreement provided for the creation of two joint ventures. One of them was to deal with the existing commercial aircraft production program. Boeing’s share in it would be 80%.
The role of the second enterprise was to develop sales of the medium-range military transport aircraft Embraer C-390 Millennium. The distribution of shares in this company was supposed to be 51% to 49% in favor of Embraer.
The Boeing statement emphasizes that the company worked for 2 years to finalize the transaction with Embraer and received all necessary permissions from regulators with the exception of the European Commission.
“For the past 7 months we have had productive negotiations regarding the controversial issues of the agreement, which in the end did not become successful. We have reached a point where the continuation of negotiations under this agreement does not resolve the disputed issues, ”commented Mark Allen, President of the Boeing Embraer Cooperation Unit.
Boeing and Embraer began discussing production combining as part of a joint venture after Airbus gained majority control over the production of Canadian regional Bombardier C Series aircraft.
The parties entered into the initial agreement on February 26, 2019. However, the finalization of the transaction was supposed to take place closer to mid-2020 after obtaining the approval of all regulators.
Source: Avianews
After 14 years of building and endless failures, Germany’s most embarrassing construction project Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) has finally received the green light to go ahead from building inspectors.
The chief safety inspection by the Tüv and responsible general planner of the project have signed off the required documents and submitted them to the authorities for final approval which now is all but a formality.
With planning it has taken over two decades to finally schedule an opening of the airport and I’m surprised that this project has now been signed off on as a news report from last month revealed that there are still over 5000 defects to be taken care of.
The Lufthansa Group has already started to schedule flights to gradually move from Berlin-Tegel to the new Berlin-Brandenburg Airport so passengers should carefully check their schedule if traveling to/from Berlin starting late October.
Yesterday Germany’s Handelsblatt (access here) reported that the second last and most critical hurdle for the opening of the airport has been completed.
For years the general inspectors responsible for safety and building integrity have refused to sign off on the project as safety standards weren’t met and several relevant errors surfaced. The project has become an international embarrassment for Germany and especially Berlin’s local politicians who from the beginning insisted to run the project themselves. A fateful decision as it turned out.
Germany had a very severe fire at Duesseldorf Airport in the 1990s where several people lost their lives and since then the authorities are extremely careful with public building standards. Back then it turned out that the fire safety system was insufficient. As such nobody wanted to take responsibility of signing the BER into service considering the substantial list of deficiencies.
The airport executives stated that the scheduled opening of BER International has never been as safe as it is right now. “Only” the local authorities need to clear it now which is all but a political/administrative decision as the safety inspections are now completed. According to the airport CEO Berlin currently handles only 1-2% of their regular traffic as most flights have been suspended during COVID-19.
There will be very little to no political appetite for further delays and embarrassments in the capital city and it is expected that this matter will now fast track it’s way through the last steps towards opening.
Source: Loalty Lobby
HAECO Cabin Solutions, a business unit of the HAECO Group with headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, has launched new, certifiable devices to allow package stowage in the main passenger cabin.
As the COVID-19 environment developed, the company noted that airlines were beginning to use passenger flights strictly for cargo. At the same time, social distancing directives were being instituted nationwide. HAECO quickly developed solutions to allow airlines to carry cargo and passengers at the same time, optimising passenger and cargo yield, using packages to distance passengers, and maintaining proper weight and balance requirements.
Four unique solutions moved from concept to offerable in less than a month. The solutions will be certified through a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) and are unique in the amount of weight that can be carried. The palletised variant can hold 1000 lbs., the all-in-one seat frame can hold 500 lbs., and the seat and floor storage systems can each hold up to 240 lbs. These options give airlines specific load authorisations and the capability of carrying larger items in the cabin that otherwise would have been stored in the aircraft’s belly, except for hazardous materials.
The solutions build upon existing seating and interior technologies and can be delivered in four to six weeks. Variants can be combined for both single and twin aisle aircraft to achieve an ideal operational payload. The installation process follows techniques used for economy seating, which can be accomplished quickly and without the need for special tools.
Doug Rasmussen, President and Group Director of HAECO Cabin Solutions, said: “We are pleased with the strong interest we have already seen from airlines and leasing companies and delighted that we can offer a quick, cost-effective solution to maximise yields during this challenging time.”
Source: Aviationpros
In march, Qatar Airways Cargo has transported more than 50,000,000kg of medical and aid supplies to impacted regions around the globe.
This equates to roughly 500 fully loaded Boeing 777 freighters.
The carrier has boosted its services around the world, operating freighters and freight-only passenger aircraft to “ensure the continuity of global trade and transportation of essential supplies” during the coronavirus crisis.
Qatar Airways Group chief executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Now, more than ever it is important to support global trade that ensures the supply of essential goods and vital aid worldwide.
“I am thankful to the airport authorities, ground handlers, cargo agents and governments around the world who have helped us increase our services to fulfil the demand for time-sensitive freight.
“I also want to thank many of our long-standing commercial customers that have supported us to prioritise humanitarian relief shipments to badly effected regions over their existing commercial arrangements. We are all in this together and are glad to be of service to communities around the world during this difficult time.”
Additional capacity has been introduced to cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Paris, Amsterdam, Muscat, Kuwait, Delhi, Beijing and Melbourne.
The carrier is also working closely with governments across the globe to operate freighter charters to support State efforts to bring in humanitarian aid and essential supplies.
The airline has implemented special procedures for ground handling to ensure minimum contact between staff and adherence to social distancing guidelines are met.
All freighters and passenger aircraft have been equipped with face masks, gloves and hand sanitisers for crew and all the crew and staff are screened regularly.
Qatar Airways Cargo utilises its full freighter fleet as per schedule and operates belly-hold cargo flights to destinations where possible.
Source: Aviation Business News
Air Canada today said it is reconfiguring the cabins of three of its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to give them additional cargo capacity. The first aircraft conversion is complete and is now in service, with the second and third aircraft to be completed shortly.
“Bringing critical medical and other vital supplies rapidly to Canada and helping distribute them across the country is imperative to combating the COVID-19 crisis. The transformation of the Boeing 777-300ERs, our largest international wide-body aircraft, doubles the capacity of each flight and will enable more goods to move more quickly,” said Tim Strauss, Vice President – Cargo at Air Canada.
“The rapid transformation of some of our aircraft to meet cargo demand reflects our ability to maximize our fleet assets quickly when these aircraft would otherwise be parked. Air Canada’s engineering team worked around the clock to oversee the conversion work, and with Transport Canada to ensure all work was certified as tasks were completed.
The next two aircraft are on track to be completed and will be in operation within the coming days,” said Richard Steer, Senior Vice President, Operations at Air Canada.
The three Boeing 777-300ER aircraft are being converted by Avianor, an aircraft maintenance and cabin integration specialist, at its Montreal-Mirabel facility. Avianor developed a specific engineering solution to remove 422 passenger seats and designate cargo loading zones for light weight boxes containing medical equipment and restrained with cargo nets.
This modification has been developed, produced and implemented within six days. All operations have been certified and approved by Transport Canada.
Source: Air Canada
The loss of around 90% of flights between Europe and Asia has resulted in a major shortage of cargo capacity. Meanwhile, the corona crisis has prompted an enormous need for the rapid transportation of medical equipment and other supplies between the United States, Europe and China.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has now joined hands with Royal Philips and the Dutch government to create a special cargo air bridge between the Netherlands and China. In addition to these parties, many others are seeking additional capacity. The air bridge to Asia will be launched on 13 April.
To maintain this vital cargo air bridge for the coming six to eight weeks, KLM will specially redeploy Boeing 747 Combi equipment for the service between the Netherlands and China. This air bridge will ensure continuous availability of special cargo capacity, with two weekly flights to Beijing and three weekly flights to Shanghai. This will ensure around 250 tonnes of extra cargo capacity each way per week.
The flights will supplement the current “skeleton schedule” that took effect on 29 March, with two weekly flights to Beijing and two weekly flights to Shanghai, operated with Boeing 787s and 777s.
The KLM/Martinair Full Freighters will continue to be deployed on North Atlantic routes, which Philips will use as an air bridge between Amsterdam and distribution points in the United States.
The Full Freighters will also continue to operate on South Atlantic routes and to destinations in Africa.
In view of the 90% decline in flights and anticipated future capacity, KLM previously decided in early March that it would phase out its remaining Boeing 747s in April 2020, instead of in the summer of 2021. For the benefit of this air bridge, however, KLM will now redeploy two Boeing 747 Combi aircraft to be used specifically on these two routes during the designated period.
Source: KLM
This Seat Bag modification for the Airbus A320 family planes has been approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
According to a statement, the cargo seat bag is a spacious 76x76x147 cm (30x30x58 inches) kit for a triple seat, with up to 75 kg (165 lb) of cargo to be stored on the seat and additional 9 kg – under the seat, totaling 252 kg (555 lb) per a triple seat block.
The installation of the kit could be done in several minutes. These bags allow effectively load passenger cabins with “postal correspondence, household goods, electronics and other commercial cargo to medical equipment and other kinds of humanitarian supplies”.
The modification option came in a very right time. Now, a lot of passenger aircraft are recruited for cargo operations. For example, Avion Express has recently joined the team of carriers operating exclusively cargo flights to secure the world with much needed supplies.
Source: : Aviation Voice
Aviation Committee of Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has forwarded to the Government proposals to introduce a package of anti-crisis measures in the aviation and tourism and hospitality sectors in connection with the damage caused by the spread of COVID-19.
“Aviation committee members reported losses of at least 10 to 15 billion UAH to aviation companies only in the first quarter of the current year,” the committee said.
It is emphasized that the economic impact of the pandemic is most noticeable for companies such as airports and airlines, meteorological centers, aircraft maintenance companies, catering companies and specialized state-owned enterprises such as UkSATSE.
It is noted that the Committee’s set of anti-crisis measures envisages the following steps:
- possibility of granting to the enterprises of the mentioned branches of stabilization credits;
- permission to grant leave without pay until the quarantine agreement has been reached by agreement of the parties;
- payment of temporary disability benefits at the expense of the state in the case of simple production;
- the right for public airports to provide holidays to users of services for the payment of services with subsequent compensation from the state;
- the ability to automatically prolong the validity of certificates and acts of flight inspections of aerodromes.
Source: mind.ua