Aviation News

Heads of product and directors of the island’s travel trade companies came together for refresher training sessions on the destination’s selling points, COVID-19 health entry requirements, stay conditions for travelers, as well as a brief on product developments within the destination since the re-opening of the Seychelles border. The sessions, conducted by Bernadette Honore, Tourism Seychelles’ Senior Marketing Executive in La Réunion, aimed to build up momentum and interest among the French department’s travel trade decision makers as well as building up confidence in the destination ahead of the flights to Seychelles next month. “Throughout this pandemic, we have been continuously updating travel trade professionals on the destination, especially in regard to the COVID-19 health regulations and stay conditions for travelers.  Having a one-to-one contact with La Réunion travel trade’s decision makers helps to rebuild the relationships, which our business entails, and mostly importantly, to instill their confidence to sell. Travel trade professionals are key partners in increasing airline load factors. Gaining their commitment to restart sales to Seychelles at this point in time is crucial for the destination and a rebound of visitor traffic from La Réunion to Seychelles,” said Ms. Honore. Air Austral representatives were also present during the two sessions, showcasing the airline’s new fleet of aircraft assigned to regional routes including Seychelles and encouraging the professionals present to push sales to the Seychelles. Both sessions were animated with questions, especially about the health and entry requirements and stay conditions for travelers. At the end of the sessions, La Réunion’s travel trade professionals expressed their satisfaction with having received adequate information to not only pass on to their clientèle, but most importantly, give them the reassurance to travel to Seychelles. The training sessions are part of marketing activities organized by Tourism Seychelles in Réunion. Televised spots will also be aired. The resumption of flights on December 19 will also provide opportunities for residents of the sister Vanilla Island to travel to Seychelles to join cruise vessels sailing within the archipelago’s waters and to explore the Inner and Outer Islands. To note that 5,791 visitors from La Réunion visited the Seychelles in 2019 prior to the pandemic.

Continued interest in aircraft maintenance at Prague Airport has been confirmed as Czech Airlines Technics (CSAT) signed a new contract with another major customer. CSAT management has entered into a base maintenance agreement with Austrian Airlines. Based on successful tender, won by CSAT, the company will perform overhauls of a total of 13 Airbus A320 family aircraft. Despite several operational changes by air carriers, lessors, and other aircraft operators in connection with the resumption of operations post the pandemic, over 100 projects were successfully completed last season.  “Pursuing the course of our long-term strategy, we confirm further co-operation with an important aircraft base maintenance customer. Last year, we won several new clients, and we continue to work for our long-term partners from airlines and leasing companies this year. Following that, our hangar capacity is fully booked for the ongoing base maintenance season,” Pavel Haleš, Chairman of the Czech Airlines Technics Board of Directors, said. Based on the latest agreement concluded with Austrian Airlines, CSAT will provide Airbus A320 family narrow-body aircraft base maintenance using one of its production lines in Hangar F. Its team will perform a total of six overhauls this season. During the following year, seven more aircraft will arrive in Prague for the planned checks. “We build on our 2019 co-operation with the Austrian national carrier, member of the Lufthansa Group, which will continue thanks to the new long-term agreement at least until 2023. We value the fact that Austrian Airlines has chosen Czech Airlines Technics and our services once again,” Pavel Haleš added.   “To ensure that our aircraft always complies with the highest standards on safety and security we focus on long standing, regional cooperation with trusted partners. We are pleased to be able to renew our agreement with Czech Airlines Techniques for another two years,” said Francesco Sciortino, Austrian Airlines’ Chief Operational Officer. Last season, Czech Airlines Technics completed over 100 base maintenance overhauls of Boeing 737, Airbus A320 Family and ATR aircraft. Concurrently, CSAT successfully performed first maintenance jobs on Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A321neo. The company received approvals to perform maintenance checks of both most modern narrow-body aircraft types from the Czech Civil Aviation Authority in the first half of 2021. Finnair, Transavia Airlines, Neos and Austrian Airlines are among the most important Czech Airlines Technics clients in the base maintenance division long-term. In 2021, a team of CSAT mechanics also worked on projects for LOT Polish Airlines, Swedish airline Novair and other clients comprising leasing companies and representatives from both the government and private sectors.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for global air freight markets showing that demand, measured in freight ton...

Initial findings from a world-first study of the impact of 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on both engines of a commercial jet have provided promising early results. The ECLIF3 study, involving Airbus, Rolls-Royce, German research center DLR and SAF producer Neste, marks the first time 100% SAF has been measured simultaneously on both engines of a commercial passenger aircraft – an Airbus A350 aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. In-flight emissions tests and associated ground testing on the ECLIF3 program began earlier this year and have recently resumed. The interdisciplinary team, which also includes researchers from the National Research Council of Canada and The University of Manchester, plans to publish its results in academic journals towards the end of next year and 2023. Findings from the study will support efforts currently underway at Airbus and Rolls-Royce to ensure the aviation sector is ready for the large-scale use of SAF as part of the wider initiative to decarbonize the industry. Aircraft are currently only allowed to operate on a 50% blend of SAF and conventional jet fuel, but both companies support the drive to certify 100% SAF use. In April, the A350 flew three flights over the Mediterranean Sea pursued by a DLR Falcon chaser plane to compare in-flight emissions of both kerosene and Neste’s hydro-processed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) sustainable fuel. The team also carried out compliance tests using 100% SAF and no operational issues were experienced. In-flight emission tests using 100% SAF and a HEFA/Jet A-1 fuel blend resumed this month, while ground-based emissions testing to quantify the benefits of SAF on local air quality were also performed. The research team found SAF releases fewer particulates than conventional kerosene at all tested engine operating conditions, which points to the potential for reduced climate impact and improvement in air quality around airports. In addition, SAF has lower density but higher energy content per kilogram of fuel compared to conventional kerosene, which brings some aircraft fuel-efficiency advantages due to lower fuel burn and less fuel mass to board to achieve the same mission. Detailed analysis by the team is on-going. “Engines and fuel systems can be tested on the ground but the only way to gather the full set of emissions data necessary for this program to be successful is to fly an aircraft in real conditions,” said Steven Le Moing, New Energy Program Manager at Airbus. “In-flight testing of the A350 offers the advantage of characterizing direct and indirect engine emissions, including particulates from behind an aircraft at high altitude.” Simon Burr, Rolls-Royce Director of Product Development and Technology, Civil Aerospace, said: “This research adds to tests we’ve already carried out on our engines, both on the ground and in the air, which have found no engineering obstacle to our engines running on 100% SAF. If we are to truly decarbonize long-haul air travel, then 100% SAF is a critical element and we are committed to supporting its certification for service.” The DLR Falcon chaser aircraft is equipped with multiple probes to measure emissions at cruise level down to a distance of only 100 meters from the A350 and feed them into scientific instrumentation for analysis. “SAF has been shown to have a significantly lower carbon footprint over its life cycle compared to conventional jet fuel and now we are seeing it is advantageous in reducing non-CO2 effects too,” said Markus Fischer, DLR’s Divisional Board Member for Aeronautics. “Tests such as these are continuing to develop our understanding of 100% SAF, its use in flight and we are seeing positive signs for its potential in climate mitigation. We look forward to studying the data from the second series of ECLIF3 flights, which restarted with a first chase flight above the Mediterranean earlier this month.” In 2015, DLR performed the ECLIF1 campaign, investigating alternative fuels with its Falcon and A320 ATRA research aircraft. These investigations continued in 2018 with the ECLIF2 campaign which saw the A320 ATRA flying with a mixture of standard jet fuel and up to 50% HEFA. This research showed the advantageous emission performance of fuel mixtures up to 50% SAF and paved the way for the 100% SAF test flights for ECLIF3.