Norwegian domestic airline Widerøe has partnered with Rolls-Royce and Italy’s Tecnam to become the potential launch operator of the P-Volt electric-powered passenger aircraft.

Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East said he is confident about a rapid recovery of the air transport sector after the pandemic led the company to a £4 billion ($5.6 billion) loss in 2020. 

Babcock is to sell its offshore oil and gas support helicopter business to CHC in a further consolidation of the offshore helicopter industry.

German aviation engineering services specialist Apus Group has begun construction of a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered four-seat aircraft which it plans to fly in mid-2023 and hopes to have on the market by 2025. 

NASA electrifies propulsion; turbo air-cooled fuel cell; hydrogen power-train testbed; and funding boosts Volocopter.

The unnamed suitors are proposing to purchase the two companies—Piaggio Aviation and Piaggio Aero Industries—which form Villanova d’Albenga-based Piaggio Aerospace.

Rolls-Royce has been selected to provide the electrical propulsion system for Vertical Aerospace’s gull-wing VA-X4 urban air mobility aircraft. 

Olivier Dassault was the son of the late Serge Dassault and grandson of Marcel Dassault, who founded the French aviation firm before World War II.