BUSINESS AVIATION

CDB Aviation Delivers First A320neo Aircraft to flynas

CDB Aviation, | February 19, 2022

Resume Blog
CDB Aviation, a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (“CDB Leasing”), announced today the delivery of the first of up to five Airbus A320neo aircraft to a new airline customer, flynas, the Saudi Arabia-based air carrier.

“This latest addition of NEO aircraft to flynas’ growing fleet advances its ambitious plans to expand the fleet and increase the scope of its offerings in line with the Vision 2030 program, The Saudi market continues to bounce back strongly post-pandemic and flynas will be well-positioned to take advantage of significant pent-up demand.”

-Patrick Hannigan, CDB Aviation’s Chief Executive Officer.

The first aircraft, with a capacity for 174 passengers, was delivered in Toulouse, France, as part of the companies’ purchase and leaseback agreements announced in late January 2022. CDB Aviation expects to take delivery of the remaining A320neo aircraft and lease them back to the carrier.

“Our commercial team continues to address airlines’ requirements in all corners of the world, leveraging our platform’s leading market position and wide-ranging financing solutions to enhance their fleets and ramp up operations in the face of the progressing recovery across the global air transport industry.”

- Peter Goodman, CDB Aviation’s Chief Marketing Officer


About flynas
flynas is a Saudi Arabian leading low-cost carrier with a fleet of 34 aircrafts, operating more than 1500 weekly flights to 35 domestic and international destinations. Since its launch in 2007, flynas has transported more than 55 million passengers, a number that has steadily grown over the past 14 years. flynas offers its guests best value for money through competitive fares, timely flights and superior customer service which has earned several accolades, including the Middle East’s Leading Low Cost Airline award from the World Travel Awards for seven consecutive years (from 2015 till 2021) as well as the prestigious Skytrax award for Middle East’s Best Low Cost Airline in (from 2017 till 2021). 

About CDB Aviation
CDB Aviation is a wholly owned Irish subsidiary of China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (“CDB Leasing”) a 37-year-old Chinese leasing company that is backed mainly by the China Development Bank. CDB Aviation is rated Investment Grade by Moody’s (A2), S&P Global (A), and Fitch (A+). China Development Bank is under the direct jurisdiction of the State Council of China and is the world’s largest development finance institution. It is also the largest Chinese bank for foreign investment and financing cooperation, long-term lending and bond issuance, enjoying Chinese sovereign credit rating.

Spotlight

If you are looking for an innovative global company, Donaldson is the place to be! Apply today at www.donaldsoncareers.com. Donaldson offers an engaging Summer Internship Program that attracts interns from across the United States. We offer undergraduate internships in engineering, finance, HR, IT, marketing, sales, supply chain and other areas. Our focus is on providing a great learning and growing experience.

Spotlight

If you are looking for an innovative global company, Donaldson is the place to be! Apply today at www.donaldsoncareers.com. Donaldson offers an engaging Summer Internship Program that attracts interns from across the United States. We offer undergraduate internships in engineering, finance, HR, IT, marketing, sales, supply chain and other areas. Our focus is on providing a great learning and growing experience.

Related News

AIR TRANSPORT

Aviation Capital Group Announces Delivery of One A320neo to Spirit Airlines

Business Wire | March 24, 2023

Aviation Capital Group LLC (“ACG”) announced the delivery of one new Airbus A320neo aircraft on long-term lease to Spirit Airlines. Powered by the ultra-efficient Pratt & Whitney GTF engines, this is the first of four aircraft scheduled to deliver to the airline from ACG’s order book with Airbus. This is ACG’s first aircraft delivery from Airbus’ facility in Mobile, Alabama. “We are thrilled to be delivering our first new Airbus A320neo aircraft to Spirit Airlines, which also marks ACG’s first aircraft delivery from Mobile, Alabama,” said Alan Mangels, Vice President of Marketing for ACG. “We are also proud to partner with Spirit Airlines in working towards a cleaner and more sustainable future by investing in fuel-efficient, new technology aircraft that produce lower emissions, use less fuel and create less environmental noise.” 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 approximately 470 owned, managed and committed aircraft as of December 31, 2022, which are leased to approximately 95 airlines in approximately 45 countries. ACG is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Century Corporation.

Read More

AIR TRANSPORT

Zeroavia Sets New Benchmark with Record-breaking HTPEM System Performance

ZeroAvia | March 10, 2023

On March 09, 2023, ZeroAvia, one of the leaders in zero-emission aviation, announced it has accomplished record-breaking performance in its High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (HTPEM) systems testing. The previous testing of the pressurized 20kW HTPEM stack power module at ZeroAvia's UK R&D facility discovered a record of 2.5 kW/kg specific power at the level of the cell, which will set the standard for system-level densities of 3 kW/kg or more within the next two years. Fuel cell technology for aviation development is critical to enable accurate zero-emission commercial flight and energy-intensive applications such as sizeable fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft. Therefore, increasing the temperature and pressure within fuel cell stacks is necessary for a commercially viable product. Increased temperature and pressure enable air cooling, simplify the system, reduce cooling drag, and ultimately enable significantly more rigorous applications. By delivering a pressurized HTPEM system, the team at ZeroAvia has made ground-breaking advances in deep technology. Additionally, innovative conductive coatings enable using aluminum bipolar plates in aggressive HTPEM environments and a novel membrane electrode assembly (MEA) technique. ZeroAvia's proprietary technology has been developed in the past three years as part of a concentrated effort to create an in-house portfolio of critical technology for fuel cell aviation. Further R&D will deliver a fuel cell system with a specific power of over 3 kW/kg, enabling a step change in performance relative to conventional fuel cell technologies and making fuel cell propulsion commercially feasible for large aircraft. To support prime candidates for ZeroAvia's ZA2000 powertrain for 40-80 seater airplanes, a range of rotorcraft and eVTOL applications, it will be the HTPEM. This next generation of fuel cells may also be adequate to enable electric propulsion systems for single-aisle turbofan aircraft with more than 100 seats, such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. About ZeroAvia ZeroAvia is one of the leading zero-emission aviation focusing on hydroelectric solutions. The company, based in Hollister (California) enables scalable, sustainable aviation by replacing conventional engines with hydrogen-electric powertrains from 19-seater regional flights to more than 100-seater long-distance flights. It has already obtained experimental certificates from the CAA and FAA for its two prototype aircraft, passed momentous flight test milestones, secured a number of key partnerships with leading aircraft OEMs and global airlines, and is on track to begin commercial operations in 2025.

Read More

AEROSPACE

ZeroAvia Successfully Tests World’s Largest Hydrogen Fuel Cell Airplane

ZeroAvia | January 20, 2023

In an important development for the aviation industry, ZeroAvia, flies the world's largest Zero-emission aircraft powered by a hydrogen-electric engine. For this maiden flight, ZeroAvia, a leading zero-emission aviation company, used its Dornier 228, a 19-seater testbed aircraft, retrofitted with a full-size prototype hydrogen-electric powertrain on the plane's left wing. The flight took off from the R&D facility of the company at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire, UK, and lasted for 10 minutes. The aircraft completed taxi, takeoff, a whole pattern circuit and landing. The landmark flight was part of the HyFlyer II project, an important research and development project backed by the flagship ATI Programme of the UK Government, with a target to develop a 600kW powertrain to support 9-19 seater aircrafts to fly around the world with zero-emission. The twin-engine aircraft was retrofitted with ZeroAvia's hydrogen-electric engine on the left wing and a Honeywell TPE-331 stock engine on the right. In this testing configuration, two fuel cell stacks power the hydrogen-electric powertrain, with lithium-ion battery packs providing peak power during takeoff including redundancy for a safe test flight. Fuel cell power generation systems and Hydrogen tanks were inside this testbed cabin for testing, however, commercial configurations will restore the seats and power systems will be stored externally. The flight test campaign was conducted under a full part 21 flight authorization with UK CAA, which is a much more rigorous set of requirements compared to the E-conditions framework used for ZeroAvia's earlier 6-seat prototype test flights. However, this signifies the maturity of the company's designs and processes, also that it is ready to proceed towards full commercial certification of its power plants. ZeroAvia will work towards its certifiable configuration to provide commercial routes using the technology by 2025. The Dornier 228 will be conducting a series of test flights from Kemble and later demo flights from other airports. About ZeroAvia Founded in 2017, ZeroAvia is the developer of the first zero-emission powertrain for the aviation sector. It aims to bring Hydro-electric engines into the aircraft to address a variety of markets, initially focusing on a 300-mile range in 9–19-seater aircraft by the year 2025, and by 2027 targets up to 700-mile range for 40-80 seater aircrafts. The company is headquartered in Hollister, California, and secured experimental certificates for two prototype aircraft from CAA and FAA. The company has passed the flight test milestone and secured key partnerships with major aircraft OEMs and is on track for commercial operations by 2025.

Read More