GoAir Orders 72 More A320neos

FARNBOROUGH—Indian low-cost carrier GoAir has doubled its commitment for Airbus A320neos.

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Air Transport Services Group, Inc.

Air Transport Services Group, Inc. provides air cargo transportation and related services to domestic and foreign air carriers and other companies that outsource their air cargo lift requirements.

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4 Major Ways Aviation Can Transit Towards A Low Carbon Path

Article | January 7, 2022

The aviation industry has allowed people to connect the world in unimaginable ways. Due to this, it has contributed massively to social and economic development globally. However, the aviation sector produces nearly 1.8% of annual carbon emissions. It is almost half of the total growth in carbon dioxide emissions in the last twenty years due to the expansion of flights, increasing routes, and airline sizes. In the loop, the commercial aviation sector has also been affected by climate change. The change is due to increased noise levels, air pollution, and waste production. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the industry recorded 2.8% of global CO2 emissions in 2019. But now, the industry has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050 through a focus on a critical low-carbon strategy, says IATA. By looking at this futuristic development, airline businesses are becoming more and more optimistic. The Action Plan The aviation industry has taken steps to reduce rising carbon emissions. The industry had framed targets that included carbon-neutral growth before the pandemic. But the pandemic compelled the industry to make some critical decisions. One of them is to fasten the action plan for low-carbon development. McKinsey recently studied the industry’s emissions. According to the report, the industry's aviation emissions would be reduced by 18 to 35 percent by 2030. However, as the aviation industry’s growth is recorded from Asia, including India, China, and Southeast Asia, decarbonization can only work if airlines from these nations actively participate in the development. “For aviation, zero-carbon is a bold, audacious commitment. But it is also necessary.” -IATA Director General Willie Walsh Airlines and other businesses are under pressure to make rapid progress towards lower emissions. It is because breakthrough technology like hydrogen-powered planes has started manufacturing. For example, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Inc., and United Airlines Holding Inc. have already made net-zero commitments by introducing hydrogen-powered planes. Similarly, JetBlue Airways Corp has set a target of 2040 to introduce low-carbon planes in no time. So, by looking at above comitments, how will aviation progress in terms of low-carbon development? What are those fundamental ways that’ll guide the industry to see a sustainable future in real life? 4 Ways Aviation will Look Forward to Reducing Carbon Emissions Green Fuel Aviation considers green fuel as one of the quickest paths to low carbon development. Green fuel can be a game-changer in lessening carbon emission impacts. But, furthermore, it can lead to drastic climate change. Green fuel, also known as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), is made from renewable sources such as plants or waste. As per IATA, SAF can cut carbon emissions by nearly 80%. But specific concerns like cost and availability are equally essential to think about. For example, the United States and other countries consider subsidies to decrease prices and increase supplies. They are practicing this due to limited availability. Also, some airlines are blending small amounts into the fuel they buy for their aircraft. Other concerns, such as planes running properly on pure SAF, are also highlighted. In addition, flight engines based on petroleum fuel rely on their oily qualities to lubricate parts and function appropriately. So, it's unclear if green fuels offer that amount of strength in their engines to fly a flight. Despite so many heated concerns (that are valid), the industry still looks good as Boeing (BA.N) studies the above issue. It has even committed to ensuring its planes are certified for 100% SAF by 2030. 242 Lower Carbon Technologies Technological improvements to lower carbon emissions include retrofitting existing aircraft, adopting the latest fuel-efficient aircraft, retiring old aircraft, and others. Several ongoing electric or hybrid-electric aircraft technology projects are in the pipeline. They are being identified to enter the industry between 2022-2030. In contrast, some of them are already in service. Developments in Infrastructure The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has created plans to reduce fuel burn and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). The plans have been forwarded to optimize communication, navigation, surveillance (CNS), and air transport management (ATM) regarding zero-carbon development. Apart from this, airlines are also working to align emission cuts with investments. Consumption of fuel usually covers 20-30% of operational costs. It is one of the highest costs of an airline business. So now airlines are considering adopting fuel-efficient flying and airport operations. Collaborations Today, aviation needs more stakeholders for a sustainable future. They can only increase the efficiencies and development of SAF. Stakeholders from technology providers, oil companies, and energy production could drive demand and help bridge the cost gap. For instance, airlines commit to buying SAF at a particular price or at a different price than traditional fuel jets. These factors could eliminate market risks for fuel suppliers. Next, airlines can work with B2B customers willing to pay for the decarbonization initiative. For example, airlines could use loyalty-program rewards as incentives for every customer to choose airlines that use SAF. Collaborations like these can help the industry accelerate its low carbon emission initiatives. These Top Airlines Commit to Using New Technologies Aviation industry leaders aim for 30% of the aircraft to operate with the help of new technologies by 2030. They strongly support the introduction of hydrogen and electric-powered planes to the market in order to reduce the industry's carbon footprint. So, let’s see the airlines and their commitment to creating a sustainable aviation future. Air New Zealand Air New Zealand’s initiatives such as True Target Zero accelerate the adoption of zero-emission aircraft worldwide. Air New Zealand is delighted to work with other industry leaders working towards net-zero goals. “Air New Zealand pledges to put low carbon solutions in place for all our smaller domestic and regional flights in the future. However, we know that the drive to decarbonize the aviation industry is impossible for one airline to tackle alone. Rather it’s a joint venture, and it's all about joining hands together.” -David Morgan, Chief Operational Integrity & Safety Officer, Air New Zealand Mokulele Airlines and Southern Airways Mokulele Airlines, the largest intra-state carrier in America, has already worked for many years as a maven to bring electrification to its air transportation system. “We are satisfied to join the World Economic Forum in seeking a global public commitment to promoting sustainable air travel.” -Stan Little, Chairman & CEO, Mokulele Airlines and Southern Airways Braathens Regional Airlines The airline has the ambition to make its flights fossil-free by 2030. The airline has included electric planes, and with its partnership with True Zero Aviation, it is taking steps to accelerate towards actual low carbon emissions. Can Aviation Make a Difference in the New Path of Development? There are a lot of positive aviation stories from all over the globe. However, aviation also has some barriers to the new path of low-carbon development. Nevertheless, aviation can undoubtedly make a difference by introducing technologies, implementing result-driven strategies, implementing the right tools, and many more. But from the customers' perspective, choosing to fly less can be another good reason to reduce an individual’s carbon pollution. The reduction can be up to 50% each year. So even avoiding long-distance flight travel could make a significant difference to aviation. Business travelers could adopt or choose to use virtual meeting technology. These could be other crucial factors limiting the carbon footprint in the atmosphere. Whatever you choose to opt for, it is high time to contribute to a more sustainable aviation sector for the future. Frequently Asked Questions How can airlines reduce their carbon footprint? Airlines can introduce more efficient aircraft. Efficiency in technological aspects, reduce flight delays, and increase the use of sustainable lower-carbon or alternative fuels. Also, investment plays a vital role here. They can invest in emissions initiatives and promote low-carbon travel. How can an airline achieve its carbon-neutral goals? An airline can explore hybrid and electric aircraft technology to reach carbon-neutral goals, reduce carbon emissions using SAF, and embrace fewer flight routes (distance). Do aircraft harm the atmosphere? Aircraft create very polluting elements and are highly challenging means of transport. Indeed, air traffic represents less than 2%-3% of the global CO2 emissions, yet it transmits direct CO2 emissions than cars on roads.

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Business Aviation

6 Effective Airline Marketing Strategies to Revitalize Business

Article | January 7, 2022

The airline industry has been an extremely tough marketplace. It takes a lot of effort to stand out from the competitors and to run business amidst everyday challenges to become top airlines in the country or worldwide. Yet, out of all this, the airline industry has maintained its dignity and has been successfully driven through market challenges. Aside from the unique dynamics of the current COVID-19 crisis, marketers before used aviation marketing tactics in a standard way. But, the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic made aviation marketing exceptionally challenging for airlines worldwide to forecast demand and kickstart airline businesses in the future. But, as of now (after a year and half months from the pandemic outbreak), there is a lot of excitement about airline branding, airline marketing strategies, airline advertisements, and more. As a result, businesses are becoming confident that revitalizing their strategies would now take off effortlessly. Yet some challenges and many other uncertainties need to be addressed regarding the fast-changing business models, travel demand, revenue generation, sales, stability, and a lot more in the restart period. Let’s put some light on those uncertainties in the airline industry. The Uncertainties As per IATA (2020), the change in the airline business model creates additional uncertainty. It has been observed that the present state of the economy is the ultimate game of risk to airline revenue management and planning. This includes airline marketing strategies, airline advertising campaigns, and prospects of branding as well. The recent shift in business patterns have been caused and triggered by various events such as: A sharp decline in demand stimulation techniques applied by airlines Signs of disruption entering the market in the wake of the COVID-19 situation prevailing in countries Disruption of profitable plans for future Changing consumer behavior Missing data connections and collection As a result, these uncertain events demand a call for action across the entire airline sector value chain. The call must be initiated based on creative marketing strategy, prioritizing personalization, sustainability, and profitability. Now, the question ascends, why does your marketing team need to think out-of-the-box altogether to re-create airline marketing strategies. Read about it next! Why Airline Marketing Strategies Need to be Out-of-the-Box With the changes occurring in airline market dynamics, airline businesses have to reshuffle their marketing strategies. They have to be quick as novel opportunities are continuously pouring in. Despite the current situation that has put the airline market under stress, it has provided the foundations for a range of new blue ocean opportunities. This is where you can hop on those opportunities to re-scale your business. Therefore, the internal and external variables have to be considered in any forecasting activities of airlines, including revenue management, pricing, network, and marketing planning. In other words, game-changing strategies are born of thinking out-of-the-box—a leap into the unexpected. Here, creating effective aviation marketing strategies will fulfill the need to pursue a new product differentiation and revenue management angle. Doing so will also instill confidence back into the base of your airline business, including stakeholders. This is how your business can become successful again. By now, you must have understood that this is where the power of marketing in aviation can play a vital role in diminishing all the challenges. But before your marketing head towards creating robust aviation marketing strategies, you should first know about the approach of 3 Cs to make a successful marketing venture. 3 Cs to Consider While Marketing Your Aviation Business Marketing, as per the current scenario, will require rock-hard strategic preparation. Similarly, in aviation marketing also, your team needs to ensure consistent preparation. This continuous process will help the business build progressively in a constantly changing aviation business environment and fluctuating demands. Following this approach will help better in building innovative strategies and simultaneously exploring a wide range of possibilities. Contrast Before your marketing team heads to the stage of the plan, consider the assumptions bracing up in the current airline industry’s status. Then, your strategists should get hands-on to identify the possibilities to come ahead along with its results. Constrain Keep a look at the limitations stirring in the current airline market scenario. Then consider how the prevailing weaknesses can be converted into strengths to become successful among your competitors. Context To create out-of-the-box airline marketing strategies, which include airline advertisements, airline advertising campaigns, and more, you should plan to have a different context to stand out terrifically among other airline companies. In addition, marketing this way will give you surprising insights and help you emerge afterward through challenges that occurred due to the pandemic. Now that you are aware of the critical things to consider in creating airline marketing strategies. It is time to go ahead with creating strategically planned strategies. Here are some effective strategies discussed that would help to revitalize your airline business. 6 Airline Marketing Strategies Introduce Loyalty Programs The airline business is known for its range of offers of loyalty programs according to the target audience. Nearly all airline businesses create their ways to cater programs to a particular audience group or in general. However, loyalty programs work the same at the core, but to encourage audiences in the current time, you can offer different perks to them. So, be creative in creating campaigns, and you will find that your loyalty programs are capitalizing on your revenue and benefiting customers together. Distinguish your Brand and Position Yourself Branding and positioning have become essential for businesses operating in this pandemic time, where the market is now hugely competitive. So you have got to be quick to get your company identified by your customer base as well as the target ones. While proceeding in this manner, your best strength will distinguish you from your competitors serving in the same area. To make your brand image outstanding, you need to study customer demographics related to airline services. On the other hand, depending on the brand image you want to cultivate, you may need to create airline advertisements accordingly. It is because your brand will communicate a message to the worldwide population. And it’s important to consider how you want your target audience to think of you before you brand and position yourself through advertisements, social media platforms, and more. This is how you will be able to position yourself in every day changing aviation market dynamics. Be Creative with an Airline Advertising Strategy Out-of-the-box airline advertising strategies can help your business outshine amidst insane competition arising. It is because now you have to adjust according to the modern world scenario. Here, creative content plays an important role. Moreover, as you must be working remotely, the idea of using content marketing will massively support your advertising strategy. It would engage and inspire customers to leverage your services, and, ultimately, your revenue will take off once again. Introduce Paid Ads Now that you have a planned airline advertising strategy, you can also consider introducing paid ads in it. Yes! With the help of paid ads, you can target a location-wise audience more precisely. Paid ads also help in revenue generation and collaborations. These aspects are directly proportional to the profit earned out of implementing strategies. For example, paid ads may involve videos creation on YouTube to create brand awareness on your website, landing pages, or content (articles, blogs, etc.) page. By doing this, your brand value is going to skyrocket than what was it before. Set a Strategic Social Media Campaign Social media campaigns are the best ways to reach your customers and target audiences under airline marketing strategies. Spreading your brand voice through different social media platforms will help you humanize your brand and deepen relationships with a larger population. In addition, other airlines use social media to reward customer loyalty, so you can also indulge in activities for the same. For this, your marketing team should study which platforms your customer base visit frequently. Then, based on your research, you can do promotions, provide updates, make announcements, expand services or give some behind-the-scenes look of your company to customers as well as targeted audiences. It is because they appreciate participating in such events and get satisfied by relying on your company. During an interview with Media 7, Didi Horn, Chief Executive Officer at SkyX, made a statement. He told, “We have found that Linkedin has contributed the most to brand awareness over the years. In our business, there’s a very specific and niche target customer that we want to reach, so we don’t hesitate to invest in doing what it takes to build strong, lasting relationships.” Marketing leaders like Didi Horn and more are becoming successful with their marketing activities on LinkedIn. Similarly, you also use LinkedIn—as one of the most influential social media platforms to spread the word about your business activities and reach out target audience easily. Practice Influencer Marketing Yes, you heard it right! Influencer marketing is booming in the current pandemic scenario. This is the best way of earning better ROI. Implementing influencer airline marketing strategies would help realize your business goals. So, what goes under this marketing strategy? The formula of storytelling through content is considered beneficial to increase airline business. Adding transparency in the strategies can also be one formula while practicing influencer marketing. Implementing this strategy will attract more audiences because they get influenced by interesting content, storytelling, company behind the scenes. This humanizes the brand altogether, giving audiences a factor of trust and loyalty. As you have entered a completely different business scenario in the airline industry, your company needs robust marketing strategies. It’s important to understand that change may be predictable, but growth isn’t. Business growth highly depends on all the little things you do consistently to make it happen. Since you’re competing with many other airline companies, developing a strategic aviation marketing plan can boost sustainable business growth. Frequently Asked Questions What is an airline marketing strategy? An airline marketing strategy is a well-planned method in action that businesses create to fulfill goals such as boost revenue, surge engagement with customers, create brand visibility, positioning, target potential audience, and a lot more. Companies invest time and money to create a robust plan so that businesses can run effortlessly. Why is airline marketing strategy important? Airline marketing strategies are important for airlines to stand out firmly among the competitors, position their brand, create awareness among the existing customer base and attract more and more potential audiences through various online platforms. What are the top 3 marketing strategies for the airline? Although the marketing strategies involved in a business are critical, the top ones can be the following. Email marketing Social media Paid media advertising { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [{ "@type": "Question", "name": "What is an airline marketing strategy?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "An airline marketing strategy is a well-planned method in action that businesses create to fulfill goals such as boost revenue, surge engagement with customers, create brand visibility, positioning, target potential audience, and a lot more. Companies invest time and money to create a robust plan so that businesses can run effortlessly." } },{ "@type": "Question", "name": "Why is airline marketing strategy important?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Airline marketing strategies are important for airlines to stand out firmly among the competitors, position their brand, create awareness among the existing customer base and attract more and more potential audiences through various online platforms." } },{ "@type": "Question", "name": "What are the top 3 marketing strategies for the airline?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Although the marketing strategies involved in a business are critical, the top ones can be the following. Email marketing Social media Paid media advertising" } }] }

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Air Transport

Path to Recovery: Aviation Trends to Expect in the Next Five Years

Article | July 15, 2022

Is the aviation industry finally reviving after the devastating 2020? If yes, then what will it show in the next five years? 2020 will be remembered in airline history as the most turbulent year to date. Due to the pandemic, the period brought massive changes in the airline industry—business models and customer behavior globally. As a result, regaining customer confidence and reforming business models have become a critical factor for airlines to uncloud the economic storm and remain a formidable competitor in the years of uncertainty ahead. Technologies that were being used before the pandemic are now being studied well with vividness. The inclusion of new technologies is onboarding, which somehow sets up new aviation industry trends. These will be a timely solution to fight the ongoing economic instability and challenges pouring in. To increase safety notions, boost business confidence, customer trust, and making airline operations more efficient, adaptability and high intelligent business outline is the new blueprint for survival and growth to happen in the next five years. Drivers of Emerging Trends The intention of emerging trends in the airline industry is from weak signals from a wide range of fields, including threats, technology, and potentiality to function remotely, impacting the industry’s all-over operational dynamics. The trends are setting primarily due to the winds of change pounding the industry from different directions. Be it from technological, demographical to environmental shifts. Understanding the potential business landscape is therefore critical to ensure what the future of air travel will be. During a study conducted by IATA, business leaders in the airline industry identified the most critical drivers of emerging trends that were probable to have an influential impact by 2035. Also, these drivers suggest bringing more and more opportunities in business models and operational models of the industry beyond 2020. Therefore, it is the hope of all airline companies (you) that how you will be affected by future developments and how the entire business landscape will be changed by the trends discussed here. So, take advantage of the opportunities that some of these trends may give rise to. Leading Aviation Trends to Expect Cybersecurity Today, the importance of cybersecurity technology in the airline industry is rising. Airlines, now being aware of the downsides of using traditional operational models, is becoming more concerned about delivering high-performance using technology. With having well-operated cybersecurity functionality onboard, airlines are focusing on becoming more agile to scale their infrastructure. Also, in the next five years, increased connectivity between the real and virtual world, including robots, will eventually end the boundaries between virtual and physical security. IATA’s research with the London School of Economics found that the aviation industry will invest $15 billion by 2035, thanks to connected operations. Moreover, as cybersecurity matures, it will be seen as the most secure and scalable way of operating organizational data, and processing will be easier than before. You will have your airline documents within a secured centralized database, which will reduce silos of information that pose security risks and threats. Biometric Technology The pandemic, apart from bringing challenges, has helped businesses to leverage influential ideas to foster. Yes, it has made the airline industry emphasize the high usage of biometrics as a must-have technology stack. Biometrics is on the rise that can reinforce the idea of touchless operations in airports. The airline industry forecast has laid primary focus on self-service. However, as the blend of software and technology is more in demand, applications will be more defined than before in the coming five years. The technology will allow automated checks, self-service systems using devices like mobile, tablets, and others and cover iris, face recognition, fingerprint, which will even work with PPE masks. The industry is already making great experiences that allow businesses to conduct frictionless operations using biometric software and hardware. For example, in November 2020, Star Alliance introduced a novel interoperable biometric identity scanner platform for screening employees and passengers at airports. AI & Big Data Artificial Intelligence (AI) welcomed massive opportunities in transforming aviation business operations amid the ongoing crisis. This technology in the airline industry has immensely aided companies in collecting data and forming a virtual assistance environment for queries, enhanced logistics operation, security, and self-services with highly augmented reality. A market survey reveals that 97.2% of the aviation companies are installing big data and AI together. In fact, 76.5% of airline companies are gaining the value of data collection with the help of big data and AI. Source: resources.vistair.com AI is also being set up in terms of safety improvement initiatives and potential safety issues. In this case, Southwest Airlines partnered with NASA to build an automated system capable of preventing potential threats and breaches by using machine-learning algorithms. Green Technology Green technology is one of the upcoming trends in the airline industry in the next five years. The prediction is it will make novel changes in the airline industry from various directions like the workforce, shares, stakeholders, and governments. In the green tech concept, it is the generational shift and advancement that may head the change using new tools. These would bring in notable opportunities beyond 2021. If you observe, the pandemic has driven the agenda of sustainability in terms of climatic conditions. And you will be surprised to know that aviation has already put up a serious concern in its fossil fuel usage by 2035. Even aircraft manufacturers have begun their journey with green technology. To clarify this, the main objective of sustainable development for the coming years is decarbonization and green technology investment. Aviation companies like Japan Airlines and IAG are investing to bring net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and by 2045, they aim to achieve carbon neutrality. And these, of course, are happening quickly due to digitalization. Expecting a Sustainable ‘DIGI-TECH’ Future As the pandemic brought downturn and slowdown in the airline industry, they have prioritized investing in digital by recognizing its importance and the optimum necessity. It is because it will be one of the significant ways for you to bring customers back and show your potential to endeavor services in a changing industry landscape. So, technology and digital together must be supported that respects businesses’ need to invest in multiple areas of functionality. On the other side, revenue management goals also need to be focused on to gain success among competitors. And following the path of trending digital platforms will make you victorious over revenue management performance objectives. In this way, you will be in the skin of the game and would observe your company rising through the challenges over the coming years. Frequently Asked Questions What are the topmost technologies that will define aviation beyond 2021? The technologies—3D printing in manufacturing, automation, and robotics are the topmost that will define how the aviation industry will be beyond 2021. How is technology being used in aviation? Airline operators use technology to market their services and products, advancing their software to leverage functionalities like biometrics, automation, cybersecurity, AI, big data, and more. Also, technology is being used to make safer airport operations like touchless checks to make safe for passengers. Will the aviation industry overcome challenges? Up until now, globally, the aviation industry is maintaining positive growth, despite prevailing challenges due to COVID-19. Technologically, it seems that the industry will foster slowly and gradually. Yet, there is sluggish growth economically due to high jet fuel prices. { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [{ "@type": "Question", "name": "What are the topmost technologies that will define aviation beyond 2021?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The technologies—3D printing in manufacturing, automation, and robotics are the topmost that will define how the aviation industry will be beyond 2021." } },{ "@type": "Question", "name": "How is technology being used in aviation?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Airline operators use technology to market their services and products, advancing their software to leverage functionalities like biometrics, automation, cybersecurity, AI, big data, and more. Also, technology is being used to make safer airport operations like touchless checks to make safe for passengers." } },{ "@type": "Question", "name": "Will the aviation industry overcome challenges?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Up until now, globally, the aviation industry is maintaining positive growth, despite prevailing challenges due to COVID-19. Technologically, it seems that the industry will foster slowly and gradually. Yet, there is sluggish growth economically due to high jet fuel prices." } }] }

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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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Air Transport Services Group, Inc.

Air Transport Services Group, Inc. provides air cargo transportation and related services to domestic and foreign air carriers and other companies that outsource their air cargo lift requirements.

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Southwest Airlines Flight Cancellations To Continue

Airwise | April 23, 2018

Southwest Airlines expects more flight cancellations this week as it continues inspections of Boeing 737 engines of the type involved in last week’s fatal incident. The Dallas-based low-cost carrier cancelled “about 40 flights” on Sunday and over a hundred Monday out of a schedule of 4,000 daily flights, as it works through the inspections of fan blades on older CFM56-7B engines. Southwest said it was on track to inspect all fan blades on its Boeing 737-700 and -800 fleets within 30 days, but despite using spare aircraft during the day and doing inspections overnight, there will be further cancellations. It expects one to two percent of its flights to be affected each day. Two percent would mean around 80 daily cancellations. The airline said the cancellations were because of its “voluntary, accelerated” engine fan blade inspection plan, not because of the FAA’s Friday emergency airworthiness directive to inspect older CFM56-7B engines.

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Southwest Airlines Flight Cancellations To Continue

Airwise | April 23, 2018

Southwest Airlines expects more flight cancellations this week as it continues inspections of Boeing 737 engines of the type involved in last week’s fatal incident. The Dallas-based low-cost carrier cancelled “about 40 flights” on Sunday and over a hundred Monday out of a schedule of 4,000 daily flights, as it works through the inspections of fan blades on older CFM56-7B engines. Southwest said it was on track to inspect all fan blades on its Boeing 737-700 and -800 fleets within 30 days, but despite using spare aircraft during the day and doing inspections overnight, there will be further cancellations. It expects one to two percent of its flights to be affected each day. Two percent would mean around 80 daily cancellations. The airline said the cancellations were because of its “voluntary, accelerated” engine fan blade inspection plan, not because of the FAA’s Friday emergency airworthiness directive to inspect older CFM56-7B engines.

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