How to Save the Aircraft Carrier from Becoming Obsolete

One of the great conceits of admirals in the interwar years was their dogmatic embrace of the nostrum that battleships won naval wars. Officers such as those of the Imperial Japanese navy proved particularly susceptible to this dogma, a thought process that found itself manifested in so called super battleships such as the IJN Yamato, which one Japanese commentator ranked alongside the pyramids and the great wall of China as one of history’s great white elephants. Indeed, even after British carrier borne aircraft had demonstrated their value against the Italian navy at Taranto and Japan’s own carrier wing had achieved a spectacular tactical success at Pearl Harbor, Japanese admirals held firm to the view that the sheer firepower of a battleship would be the decisive arm of any navy.

Spotlight

Air Pegasus

Air Pegasus is the newest regional scheduled airline based out of Bangalore.With its hub in Bangalore,Air Pegasus would provide seamless connectivity to the southern cities of India, especially Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.Pegasus has a team of dynamic and experienced professionals working in divisions such as Engineering,Flight Operations,Information Technology,Sales and Marketing etc.

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Air Transport

Aviation Branding Mistakes that Cost Huge to Businesses Every day and How to Avoid them

Article | July 26, 2022

Failure is beneficial for many reasons. But important is to manage and survive the onslaught of errors. With respect to bold attempts like adopting a new strategy, making judgments about the market, bad publicity, launching new products or services, and more like these often make airline marketers discourage due to a little or huge foul. The list also includes branding. Airline branding mistakes are often seen when businesses try either to aim to re-position in the market or create awareness among customers. If you are making branding mistakes, then remember that a combination of poor communication and ineffective brand planning causes one of the worst branding disasters! Aviation Branding Mistakes of All-Time Branding any airline company is challenging. When bad decisions about branding strategies happen, it costs huge to businesses. And most of the aviation businesses do it habitually. On this note, mistakes could happen in various ways. But some aviation branding mistakes shouldn’t be ignored at all. Mistakes can hurt your business hard. So, let’s highlight the common mistakes that can happen while branding for aviation and how you should avoid them. Implementation of Rigid Strategies Implementation of rigid branding strategies for aviation results in economic slumps Airlines need flexible marketing strategies to control the cost of labor and acquisition in order to balance the brand image. -Lauda, Marketing-In-Chief, Southwest Airlines While any significant shift in airline business strategy, like the pandemic forced, usually takes two to three years to implement. Therefore, you should design branding strategies that could afford the room for adjustments. In addition, those strategies will revive your older market position. Failing to do so could lead your airline company’s image to suffer a massive loss. So, what can you do ahead? Implement unique branding strategies for aviation to strengthen the value of your company. For this, you need to work and pay attention constantly to existing and potential customers you deal with. By understanding their perspective, marketers will be able to bring uniqueness to strategies. Following this process will ease you to adjust and cope up with the current economic condition. Overlooking SEO The entire aviation industry is going digitalized, especially after the pandemic fall. SEO is one of the most significant areas of digital marketing. So, if you do not master SEO, you are lagging behind competitors in branding for aviation. Your target audience/existing audience should never find difficulty in discovering your brand. This is the only rule of conducting tested SEO practices. It is because overlooking SEO means your customers are gone. So, here’s what to do instead. Try to find out what keywords are becoming relevant every day. Keep a watch at what keywords your competitors include to rank their brand name. Check relevant keywords for your brand message. Also, make sure about the trending keywords and how they are being searched. After you have mastered this metric, create branding strategies that are fit for your company. A Disconnect with Audience Failing to connect with an audience is the most significant mistake. Conducting inappropriate research on target audiences makes it hard to know how to connect with them. To understand it, you will have to think creatively and strategically simultaneously. For that, your team should create the best marketing design materials to attract a wide net of customers. What can you do more? While you connect with customers, an innovative perspective on your upcoming plans should be out of the box. Thinking in this way will help to reveal the gaps, problems, and undiscovered opportunities to make your brand better. Also, you will get deep insights about customers by directly reaching out through social media. You can use forums, email campaigns, loyalty programs, and other ways to connect. If you overcome this mistake, you will be able to connect with your potential customers. To have your criteria is essential. And then, you would be surprised to know how enthused some customers will be about a glimpse into the potential future of a product or service they will gain from your company. Becoming too Generic Coming across too generic ideas of branding for aviation will give a bad impression on your airline company. So, what constitutes this aviation branding mistake? Let’s know here • Depending on stock imagery • Forgetting on your core branding elements—for example, using a generic logo • Having a similar brand name as competitors’ • Offering a similar product/service similar as competitors’ • Usage of non-specific/non-industrial terms in marketing materials These points mean that the more generic your brand will showcase, the less unique you appear to the audience. A generic brand reflects being unprofessional, slapdash, or uninteresting. It’s clear—who would want to buy products or services from. What should you do instead? If you can offer a better or different picture of your airline brand, do it, even if you have to raise your budget. Connect a great designer and take full advantage of their experience. Your designer can help with much more than the standards of the branding work. Do some market research for brand promotion/positioning strategies to understand deeper. By doing so, you can leverage the complete value expertise and implement it in your branding techniques. Branding is One-time Action The action of branding in one time only is an old-school industry policy of aviation. Today is the era of digitalization, where still many existing aviation companies are practicing this approach. If your company falls in this category, then hold on and restrict it now. This is the time when your airline company needs a tangible branding suite, humanization approach. It should also include the defined message, value, logo, and other elements. However, the work doesn’t stop with these elements. The fact is, branding is an endless process. So, what do you need to do? You need to work diligently by keeping a very sharp razor focus on every effort associated with the branding process. So that you can continue to carve your company’s position in the market and stand out. Also, this will help your company stand out in customers’ minds. And hence, this will automatically strengthen your brand. Putting Branding Responsibilities on One Department Branding efforts are not only reserved for the marketing department. Instead, it should involve efforts along across departmental actions as well. There could be multi-departmental knowledge that could save you from poor branding. Might your marketing team’s efforts like the design or PR do not necessarily work perfectly. It's also possible that they ideate a similar design repeatedly. And you may be unknowingly making significant aviation branding mistakes. Those mistakes must have damaged the credibility of the strategies and the motive. A lot of companies work for branding only with the marketing team. That is why they lack in many other parts of branding. If you have a similar working process in your company, you need to think again! So, how to go ahead? To create an effective aviation branding, involve the sales, customer service, IT, networking, data analyst department on board. By collaborating with them, you can initiate many efforts to create purposeful solutions for audiences. Even the representatives of each department can involve and create target-proof branding strategies for aviation. Devaluing the importance of social media Devaluing the power of social media has been one of the most common and costly aviation branding mistakes businesses are making. From being active on it to acting on the audience’s activities has a lot of differences in-between. Many companies listen, but they don’t hear. The problem is they don’t show to their audiences. And thus, results in disconnection among audiences. So, what can you do instead? In the current time, the travel market is now more fragmented with the continuous shifting behavior of travelers. In this case, social media’s role is becoming significant. It’s one platform where you can obtain feedback by creating polls, communicating, and engaging with marketing tricks. It's a free and paid platform. You have every reason to take advantage of it to showcase your company and brand message to a wide net of audiences. Doing it regularly—keeping your content relevant and updated- will make your brand image evergreen. Save your Airline Company with Branding Bloopers Now you must have gained some insights on how to avoid branding mistakes. So, it's time to bid farewell to branding mistakes. Remember that consumers, context, and quality design should be at the forefront of your mind when you begin with branding planning. It’s crucial to hone on the right branding strategy because it’s an important way to position your aviation company in the market. The airline business is the biggest team sport in the world. When you are all consumed with fighting among yourselves, your opponents can run over you every day. – By Gordon Bethune Former CEO of Continental Airlines Frequently Asked Questions What are the other airline branding mistakes businesses usually make? Mistakes happen every day in airline businesses. But some common mistakes can cost a huge to a business. Here are some more airline mistakes: • Aviation businesses tend to implement competitors’ tactics that become entirely different from their original business structure or current and future plans of action. • Businesses do not think of investing in an aviation advertising agency. • Usually forgets the purpose behind the brand creation. • Create fake brand values What should airline businesses avoid in brand planning? While creating a brand, the airline businesses should avoid the following things: • Underestimating your customers • Untracking your marketing efforts • Unwilling to invest • Broad targeting • Lack of USP • Lack of research What do airline customers want from airline businesses? Airline customers are broad. They look for a wide array of services and products. So, your customer will always want some basic yet valuable things like committed customer service and satisfaction, easy approachability, content to understand solutions, and easy ways to invest. { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [{ "@type": "Question", "name": "What are the other airline branding mistakes businesses usually make?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Mistakes happen every day in airline businesses. But some common mistakes can cost a huge to a business. Here are some more airline mistakes: Aviation businesses tend to implement competitors’ tactics that become entirely different from their original business structure or current and future plans of action. Businesses do not think of investing in an aviation advertising agency. Usually forgets the purpose behind the brand creation. Create fake brand values" } },{ "@type": "Question", "name": "What should airline businesses avoid in brand planning?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "While creating a brand, the airline businesses should avoid the following things: Underestimating your customers Untracking your marketing efforts Unwilling to invest Broad targeting Lack of USP Lack of research" } },{ "@type": "Question", "name": "What do airline customers want from airline businesses?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Airline customers are broad. They look for a wide array of services and products. So, your customer will always want some basic yet valuable things like committed customer service and satisfaction, easy approachability, content to understand solutions, and easy ways to invest." } }] }

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Business Aviation

Will Flights Like Project Sunrise Be The Future Of Air Travel?

Article | December 28, 2021

With rescue flights crisscrossing the globe and passengers keen to get where they are going as soon as possible, will we see the end of hub to hub travel? Has this current aviation crisis signaled the decline of the current model of aviation we know today? One reporter at Simple Flying gives his opinion.

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Defense and Space

Aviation Marketing: Budget Control is a New Survival Metric amid the Pandemic

Article | June 8, 2022

Skift research shows that 90% of airline marketers have dropped their marketing budgets due to the pandemic.The pandemic brought massive changes in marketing. Due to this, CMOs navigated through restricted availability of resources and shifted airline companies’ guidelines for months. CMOs find increasingly difficult to rely on conventional financial and managerial aspects like typical cost setting—the way profitability was being achieved, fuel consumption, accounting decision making, investments, manufacturing and more. Due to these challenges, airline brands are bound to sternly reevaluate their current and future marketing process to maintain a steady flow of income and increase ROI. So, it’s quite possible that your marketing tactics also may have suffered due to the pandemic. Right? And now you must think, “How much should your budget be for marketing?” It’s an important question. It’s because most aviation businesses do not have a considerable aviation marketing budget. The answer to your concern lies here, “spend the least amount that achieves your business objectives.” A lot has transformed since the outbreak of the pandemic. Yet, there are novel opportunities in aviation marketing activities. So, let's take a closer look at some of the opportunities that might help control your aviation marketing budget. Opportunity No.1: Invest in Paid Advertisements; they are cheap! Paid advertisements are becoming cheaper. These are in higher demand when it comes to aviation marketing. It makes sense because the way digital advertisements are making money is going to benefit marketers. First, the paid ads drive the cost per click (CPC), so investing here can increase the ROI. Second, as the pandemic forced companies to focus on all-digital processes, as it prompts the audience to spend more time online. Resultantly, traffic on the web is up, and there are lots of ads. It means ads are cheaper. Even conversion rates are increasing now. It’s because the ads online are evolving at the same rate as it was before the pandemic. Therefore, you must take advantage of paid ads to start with controlling your aviation marketing costs. Opportunity No. 2: Determine your Annual Customer Value The key to having controlled aviation marketing costs is to have an average customer revenue. If you haven’t calculated yet, then you should begin with it. Begin tracking the effectiveness of your sales and marketing efforts. Once you begin with it, you will calculate how much money is spent on every customer or a new customer. The other important aspect to consider is how wisely you spend the dollars in a limited budget. And that’s where a marketing plan comes into action. A well-improvised marketing plan may include proper tactics, tools, and platforms. But to implement all these things effectively requires an adequate budget. However, how to use them requires a thorough analysis and experts’ experience. Usually, marketers make a mistake by spending too much on a single marketing tactic. And this results in a considerable loss. So, to control your budget, be intelligent to concentrate on a selected marketing tool and platform. And then spend dollars on it. Tapping on this approach, you will create a cost-effective marketing plan, which will give better marketing results. Besides, your customers might equally feel satisfied by getting worthwhile results. Well, in reality, it will be easy for you to determine the annual value of money spent on each customer. Opportunity No. 3: Review Investment Plans When looking at the aviation marketing budget, it’s advisable to review investment plans carefully. The investment plan is crucial when you need to control your aviation marketing. Having an in-depth knowledge of it can lead you to save big. Also, it might bring opportunities further for your airline business. For example, in December 2019, JetBlue announced a marketing structural cost program. It aimed at producing $250-$300 million by 2020 through cost savings. According to the company’s 2020 annual report, the program emphasizes these points: Technical marketing operations Planning, automation, and executing efficient activities online .(Like on a website, social media platforms, online campaigns, and more) • Decreasing distribution costs • Tax reformation All these aspects demonstrate opportunities to propel business growth. We are extremely excited about the potential for increased business demand with the costs and tax cut. - Glen Hauenstein, President of Delta Airlines. So, consider if you can reduce, delay and/or eliminate non-essential marketing tasks or not. Then, find opportunities to help you do a transition from costly, inefficient technological aspects to more cost-efficient technology, thus, driving more valuable results. The bottom line is that you must understand where it makes sense to cut costs and where to make the proper investments because it's about bolstering your airline business. With the help of this, you can create value for customers, partners, and investors in no time. Opportunity No. 4: Encourage Innovative Digital Engagement Some of the top airlines like Delta Airlines and its marketing teams use innovative engagement methods through digitalization. Yes! After being hit by the deadly pandemic, Delta lost $60 million in cash each day. Delta CEO Ed Bastian revealed that Delta airlines reduced 80% of its operation. “Delta will weather the storm by sticking to our shared values of honesty, persistence, and service to our customers and our communities. We encourage digitalization to the core. And that has helped our customers easy to connect us.” - Delta CEO Ed Bastian With this approach, Delta further forecasts its revenue to rise by 90% by the end of 2021. So, you can see how investing in digital methods can help revenue rise without going out of budget or crossing the budget line. When you introduce automation, AR, VR in your aviation marketing efforts, it will drive value from existing customers and engage potential customers. For example, you can create innovative videos for social media, visual online campaigns, presentations, and more. Finally, remember to “Have Patience and Carry On” It is critical to managing finance, especially in global disasters like coronavirus. However, today's marketing budget may seem exhausting when aviation businesses compete each day. But it is helpful at the end of the day! Controlling your aviation marketing costs will lead you to increase your ROI. And this way, you will get valuable prospects, which is even more critical in the current scenario. Moving ahead with not-so-hard marketing budget control, you will require powerful leadership, top competency with courage and empathy, and the correct data, of course. So, having all these aspects and proactive measures in place, you will be able to outshine again. So, which one of the opportunities are you going to implement first? Frequently Asked Questions How do airline businesses do marketing? Marketing is the best practice to build trust among airline customers. The marketers offer rewards to customers so that they become loyal to an airline brand. They also run campaign activities, provide rich informational content, produce videos to educate and motivate customers. This is how engagement increases along with loyal numbers of customers. What are the leading airline expenses? The leading airline expenses are as follows: The employment process expenses. These expenses are the most critical operational cost of an airline (33.5%). Fuel expenses (19.6%). Sales and marketing expenses. They are approximately 15.7% on the rise. How do airlines control the marketing budget? There are several ways the airline controls its marketing budget. A few of them are: By conducting fuel-saving strategies Operation procedure simplification Introducing automation Technology implementation { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [{ "@type": "Question", "name": "How do airline businesses do marketing?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Marketing is the best practice to build trust among airline customers. The marketers offer rewards to customers so that they become loyal to an airline brand. They also run campaign activities, provide rich informational content, produce videos to educate and motivate customers. This is how engagement increases along with loyal numbers of customers." } },{ "@type": "Question", "name": "What are the leading airline expenses?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The leading airline expenses are as follows: The employment process expenses. These expenses are the most critical operational cost of an airline (33.5%). Fuel expenses (19.6%). Sales and marketing expenses. They are approximately 15.7% on the rise." } },{ "@type": "Question", "name": "How do airlines control the marketing budget?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "There are several ways the airline controls its marketing budget. A few of them are: By conducting fuel-saving strategies Operation procedure simplification Introducing automation Technology implementation" } }] }

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Business Aviation

How to be eco-friendly in the aviation industry?

Article | May 12, 2021

Each year airlines begin new sustainability initiatives, experiment with biofuels, and offset their carbon emissions on selected flights; yet, sustainability should not only be a topic of discussion when an aircraft is in the air but also when it’s on the ground. In just one year, a Boeing 777, 787, Airbus A330, and A350, burn an extra 265,000 litres of fuel due to the 1% increase in drag. As a result, a full year’s operations of such an aircraft costs US$77,600 more than during the previous year. A dirty aircraft exterior is full of microscopic patches of dust and mud that impact the airliner’s operational efficiency by creating turbulent airflow across the whole fuselage. While the problem of additional drag is not new, there are no solutions to combat it other than performing regular cleaning of the aircraft’s exterior. Reducing drag – through cleaning – on aircraft fuselage, wings, engine cowlings, and stabilizer brings another challenge; how to remain sustainable while performing the exterior cleaning process? A popular, yet wasteful pressurized water cleaning technique requires more than 11,300 litres of water to clean one Airbus A380 aircraft and more than 9,500 litres to clean a Boeing 777. Traditionally, aircraft are cleaned four to five times per year, and with more than 48 thousand airframes in the world, the amount of water used each year is immense. As a result, the positives of clean fuselages are outweighed by the negatives of wasteful usage of expensive and environmentally important resources. This raises a question: whether it is possible to be eco-friendly in the aviation industry when one solution brings even more challenges than benefits? While the answer may look complicated, the definite answer is yes. The use of robots in household applications has proven that robotification is an inevitable and much-needed process to achieve even more efficient operational performance. One of the solutions to address the inefficient and time-consuming process of washing an aircraft fuselage is to employ an aircraft exterior cleaning robot. The market offerings like Nordic Dino, have been perfected and adapted to work with a wide range of aircraft fuselage types. Such robots are designed to minimize the use of water and detergent on every wash; saving more than 30% more water when compared to traditional washing methods. At the same time, built with sustainability in mind, the robots can be equipped with electric motors, further minimizing the environmental impact. “Sustainability and eco-friendliness should not be viewed as challenges or impossible achievements in the aviation industry. By utilizing the right equipment, finding alternatives to polluting methods, and increasing efficiency at every step possible, companies could come one step closer to operational efficiency as well as sustainability targets. Our offering, Nordic Dino can reduce the use of water and detergent and can be powered by electricity, reducing carbon and nitrogen dioxide emissions. By the robotification of the cleaning process we present a solution to MROs and dedicated aircraft cleaning companies to become green.” – commented Jan Brunstedt, CEO of Aviator Robotics AB.

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Spotlight

Air Pegasus

Air Pegasus is the newest regional scheduled airline based out of Bangalore.With its hub in Bangalore,Air Pegasus would provide seamless connectivity to the southern cities of India, especially Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.Pegasus has a team of dynamic and experienced professionals working in divisions such as Engineering,Flight Operations,Information Technology,Sales and Marketing etc.

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Defense and Space

Elbit Systems UK JV introduces sustainable aviation pathfinder for Ministry of Defence

Elbit Systems | April 18, 2022

Elbit Systems UK and KBR Inc's joint venture, Affinity Flying Training Services Ltd (Affinity), has embarked on a series of battery-powered flight tests for the UK Ministry of Defence to assess the feasibility of environmentally friendly alternatives to current military aircraft. The concept of trialling zero emissions aircraft, and the subsequent pathfinder, was brought to the Ministry of Defence by Elbit Systems UK through its joint venture with KBR Inc, Affinity. The introduction of this pathfinder demonstrates the company's commitment to providing innovative solutions for the UK Armed Forces and addressing the needs of the future. In line with the Ministry of Defence's 'green' transformation, the flights aim to help the Royal Air Force (RAF) assess the technology of electric aircraft, determine its effectiveness as an impactful pilot training capability and realise the net-zero ambitions of the service's ASTRA initiative. The flights used a fully certified two-seater pilot training aircraft, the Velis Electro. Flight and safety assurances were developed during the summer of 2021, which was organised and delivered by the team from Elbit Systems UK, through Affinity, in partnership with the Civil Aviation Authority. The pathfinder programme was split into three phases. As part of Phase 1 in December 2021, test flights took off from Damyn's Hall, Essex, and continued into January 2022. Phase 2 commenced in March 2022, and saw the aircraft join Affinity's existing fleet at RAF Cranwell, where up to twenty additional pilots will fly the eco-friendly aircraft. Finally, Phase 3 of the flight trials will welcome senior government officials and observers. "We are delighted to be leading this exciting initiative with the Ministry of Defence. The concept of zero emissions aircraft being utilised by the RAF has always been considered hypothetical and we are proud to have proposed and delivered initial capability for this pathfinder. Elbit Systems UK has always been, and continues to be, at the forefront of advances in the Defence industry, supporting our Armed Forces as they address the requirements of tomorrow." Martin Fausset, CEO of Elbit Systems UK About Elbit Systems UK Elbit Systems UK Ltd. holds three wholly owned subsidiaries as well as two joint ventures. In total, over 600 personnel are employed by the Elbit Systems UK companies in the UK, in high tech roles in the defence, aerospace and rail sectors. The two joint ventures were formed in order to deliver the Watchkeeper programme for the British Army and to supply and support three fleets of aircraft within the UK MOD Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) programme. Elbit Systems UK is an established supplier to the UK Armed Forces, participating in several major Defence programmes such as Selborne, Morpheus and MEWSIC Increment 1, and delivering the Dismounted Joint Fires Integrator and Joint Fires Synthetic Trainer.

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Business Aviation

Aviation Capital Group Announces Financing of Two Airbus A321neo LR Aircraft for TAP Air Portugal

Aviation Capital Group | April 13, 2022

Aviation Capital Group LLC (“ACG”) announced today the secured financing of two Airbus A321neo LR aircraft for TAP Air Portugal (“TAP”). This financing marks the fifth use by ACG’s Aircraft Financing Solutions (“AFS”) program of its $650 million secured funding facility. This allowed ACG to provide a senior secured loan to TAP and to partner with Novus Aviation Capital (“Novus”), who provided complementary mezzanine financing. Together, ACG and Novus were able to offer TAP an attractive and comprehensive financing solution. “ACG is grateful to have had the opportunity to work with TAP and Novus on this financing. We were able to draw upon our established relationship with Novus to effectively meld the senior and junior loans and to provide TAP with timely and efficient financing. Moreover, we were finally able to bring to fruition ACG’s long held desire to work with TAP again,” said Andrew Falk, Managing Director of ACG. “We are delighted to complete this transaction with both ACG and TAP, continuing to support an existing airline customer. Not only are we building on our relationship with this additional financing for TAP, but we are also very proud to have a strong foundation with ACG that will allow both parties to collaborate on future opportunities. This debt structure is an attractive value proposition and the combination of asset type and stakeholders involved makes it appealing for both Novus and Tamweel Aviation Finance, one of the industry’s leading mezzanine loan providers.” Mamoun Kuzbari, Chief Commercial Officer, Novus Aviation Capital “TAP is very pleased to work with ACG and Novus on this financing and we are very confident that these two additional A321neo LR aircraft that are joining our fleet, already one of the youngest and most efficient in the world, will contribute to the success of our airline,” said Gonçalo Pires, Chief Financial Officer of TAP Air Portugal. About Aviation Capital Group Aviation Capital Group was founded in 1989 and is one of the world’s premier full-service aircraft asset managers with over 440 owned, managed and committed aircraft as of December 31, 2021, which are leased to approximately 90 airlines in approximately 45 countries. ACG is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Century Corporation.

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Air Transport

Transoft Solutions and Skyway Have Announced a Strategic Partnership

Skyway | April 11, 2022

Skyway Technologies Corp. has announced a new strategic relationship with Transoft Solutions Inc., demonstrating the company's continuous leadership in the field of urban air mobility and air traffic management. This collaboration demonstrates Skyway's capacity to work with businesses of all sizes and compete as a vital resource in the industry's open market. Transoft offers an unrivaled suite of infrastructure planning products and services to complement Skyway's and the international Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market's efforts. In the ever-growing vertiport infrastructure market, the alliance will deliver vital innovation. Both firms will work on sophisticated vertiport planning methodologies to mold the tools needed for creative development, with a focus on developing EVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft. This will allow industry professionals to build, construct, and simulate future vertiport master plans with more accuracy. Understanding the scalable throughput of flight operations will be critical in the decision-making process, as vertiport infrastructure development is likely to be one of the hottest real estate plays in aviation history. The collaboration will aid the industry in comprehending the potential of creating a vertiport as well as the tools required for success. "Empowering the next generation vertiport planners with the tools needed to scale vertiport operations will pave the way for investments into the infrastructure that will benefit all UAM stakeholders." Clifford Cruz- CEO, Skyway Transoft is known around the world for providing cutting-edge software and services for the aviation industry, including planning, simulation, modeling, and design. Transoft and Skyway are pushing boundaries in academic research and development to further understand what the reality of building a vertiport will be. This will help to speed up the development of critical technologies for airports and private sector investments to begin breaking ground on infrastructure projects around the world.

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Defense and Space

Elbit Systems UK JV introduces sustainable aviation pathfinder for Ministry of Defence

Elbit Systems | April 18, 2022

Elbit Systems UK and KBR Inc's joint venture, Affinity Flying Training Services Ltd (Affinity), has embarked on a series of battery-powered flight tests for the UK Ministry of Defence to assess the feasibility of environmentally friendly alternatives to current military aircraft. The concept of trialling zero emissions aircraft, and the subsequent pathfinder, was brought to the Ministry of Defence by Elbit Systems UK through its joint venture with KBR Inc, Affinity. The introduction of this pathfinder demonstrates the company's commitment to providing innovative solutions for the UK Armed Forces and addressing the needs of the future. In line with the Ministry of Defence's 'green' transformation, the flights aim to help the Royal Air Force (RAF) assess the technology of electric aircraft, determine its effectiveness as an impactful pilot training capability and realise the net-zero ambitions of the service's ASTRA initiative. The flights used a fully certified two-seater pilot training aircraft, the Velis Electro. Flight and safety assurances were developed during the summer of 2021, which was organised and delivered by the team from Elbit Systems UK, through Affinity, in partnership with the Civil Aviation Authority. The pathfinder programme was split into three phases. As part of Phase 1 in December 2021, test flights took off from Damyn's Hall, Essex, and continued into January 2022. Phase 2 commenced in March 2022, and saw the aircraft join Affinity's existing fleet at RAF Cranwell, where up to twenty additional pilots will fly the eco-friendly aircraft. Finally, Phase 3 of the flight trials will welcome senior government officials and observers. "We are delighted to be leading this exciting initiative with the Ministry of Defence. The concept of zero emissions aircraft being utilised by the RAF has always been considered hypothetical and we are proud to have proposed and delivered initial capability for this pathfinder. Elbit Systems UK has always been, and continues to be, at the forefront of advances in the Defence industry, supporting our Armed Forces as they address the requirements of tomorrow." Martin Fausset, CEO of Elbit Systems UK About Elbit Systems UK Elbit Systems UK Ltd. holds three wholly owned subsidiaries as well as two joint ventures. In total, over 600 personnel are employed by the Elbit Systems UK companies in the UK, in high tech roles in the defence, aerospace and rail sectors. The two joint ventures were formed in order to deliver the Watchkeeper programme for the British Army and to supply and support three fleets of aircraft within the UK MOD Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) programme. Elbit Systems UK is an established supplier to the UK Armed Forces, participating in several major Defence programmes such as Selborne, Morpheus and MEWSIC Increment 1, and delivering the Dismounted Joint Fires Integrator and Joint Fires Synthetic Trainer.

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Business Aviation

Aviation Capital Group Announces Financing of Two Airbus A321neo LR Aircraft for TAP Air Portugal

Aviation Capital Group | April 13, 2022

Aviation Capital Group LLC (“ACG”) announced today the secured financing of two Airbus A321neo LR aircraft for TAP Air Portugal (“TAP”). This financing marks the fifth use by ACG’s Aircraft Financing Solutions (“AFS”) program of its $650 million secured funding facility. This allowed ACG to provide a senior secured loan to TAP and to partner with Novus Aviation Capital (“Novus”), who provided complementary mezzanine financing. Together, ACG and Novus were able to offer TAP an attractive and comprehensive financing solution. “ACG is grateful to have had the opportunity to work with TAP and Novus on this financing. We were able to draw upon our established relationship with Novus to effectively meld the senior and junior loans and to provide TAP with timely and efficient financing. Moreover, we were finally able to bring to fruition ACG’s long held desire to work with TAP again,” said Andrew Falk, Managing Director of ACG. “We are delighted to complete this transaction with both ACG and TAP, continuing to support an existing airline customer. Not only are we building on our relationship with this additional financing for TAP, but we are also very proud to have a strong foundation with ACG that will allow both parties to collaborate on future opportunities. This debt structure is an attractive value proposition and the combination of asset type and stakeholders involved makes it appealing for both Novus and Tamweel Aviation Finance, one of the industry’s leading mezzanine loan providers.” Mamoun Kuzbari, Chief Commercial Officer, Novus Aviation Capital “TAP is very pleased to work with ACG and Novus on this financing and we are very confident that these two additional A321neo LR aircraft that are joining our fleet, already one of the youngest and most efficient in the world, will contribute to the success of our airline,” said Gonçalo Pires, Chief Financial Officer of TAP Air Portugal. About Aviation Capital Group Aviation Capital Group was founded in 1989 and is one of the world’s premier full-service aircraft asset managers with over 440 owned, managed and committed aircraft as of December 31, 2021, which are leased to approximately 90 airlines in approximately 45 countries. ACG is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Century Corporation.

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Air Transport

Transoft Solutions and Skyway Have Announced a Strategic Partnership

Skyway | April 11, 2022

Skyway Technologies Corp. has announced a new strategic relationship with Transoft Solutions Inc., demonstrating the company's continuous leadership in the field of urban air mobility and air traffic management. This collaboration demonstrates Skyway's capacity to work with businesses of all sizes and compete as a vital resource in the industry's open market. Transoft offers an unrivaled suite of infrastructure planning products and services to complement Skyway's and the international Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market's efforts. In the ever-growing vertiport infrastructure market, the alliance will deliver vital innovation. Both firms will work on sophisticated vertiport planning methodologies to mold the tools needed for creative development, with a focus on developing EVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft. This will allow industry professionals to build, construct, and simulate future vertiport master plans with more accuracy. Understanding the scalable throughput of flight operations will be critical in the decision-making process, as vertiport infrastructure development is likely to be one of the hottest real estate plays in aviation history. The collaboration will aid the industry in comprehending the potential of creating a vertiport as well as the tools required for success. "Empowering the next generation vertiport planners with the tools needed to scale vertiport operations will pave the way for investments into the infrastructure that will benefit all UAM stakeholders." Clifford Cruz- CEO, Skyway Transoft is known around the world for providing cutting-edge software and services for the aviation industry, including planning, simulation, modeling, and design. Transoft and Skyway are pushing boundaries in academic research and development to further understand what the reality of building a vertiport will be. This will help to speed up the development of critical technologies for airports and private sector investments to begin breaking ground on infrastructure projects around the world.

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