This week’s top air transport stories include the U.S. House of Representatives passing its FAA Reauthorization legislation and Turkish Airlines establishing a new subsidiary.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed its FAA Reauthorization legislation July 20 in a 352-69 vote, providing funding for the regulatory and safety agency for the next five years. The U.S. Senate has its own FAA Reauthorization legislation to consider, but efforts to advance that bill stalled in mid-June and no new dates for mark-up have been scheduled since then. The House and Senate must agree on one common bill, which opens the door for negotiations. The current FAA authorization legislation expires Sept. 30.
Turkish Airlines has established a new subsidiary to develop its current subsidiary AnadoluJet into a competitive LCC with a fleet of 200 aircraft. The Istanbul-based flag carrier plans to separate its LCC unit AnadoluJet and has undertaken the next step by establishing a wholly owned subsidiary of Turkish Airlines named “AJet Hava Taşımacılığı Anonim Şirketi,” translated as “AJet Air Transport Joint Stock Company.”
Zero-emission propulsion pioneer ZeroAvia has completed the initial flight-test campaign with a Dornier 228 fitted with a prototype of its ZA600 hydrogen-electric powertrain. The company will now finalize the design for certification of the powertrain and its installation on the initial application, Cessna’s Caravan.
India’s aviation regulator has granted Go First in-principle permission to restart operations, but many conditions still have to be fulfilled. Go First suspended operations and sought bankruptcy protection on May 2, but the airline has subsequently sought permission to resume flights with a pared down fleet and schedule. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gave its conditional approval on July 21.
Seeing a risk of an exceeded night flight cap at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport, the French authority for airport nuisance control is calling for more judicial proceedings against those carriers that do not comply with the night curfew. The move is happening in a context of increasingly strict environmental frameworks for carriers to operate at airports.
Dale Vince, the founder of renewable energy firm Ecotricity, is planning to launch Edinburgh-based Ecojet in early 2024. The new airline will initially use kerosene-powered De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters, which will be converted to hydrogen-electric powertrains a year after launch. “The plan is to operate an electric airline,” Vince told Aviation Daily. “We expect [UK] CAA certification, our license to operate, by the end of the year.”
Air China completed the country’s first uptake of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in a commercial flight. On July 14 an Airbus A350-900 (reg. B-307A) flying from Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport to Beijing took in fuel with a 10% SAF blend from local supplier Sinopec, state media outlet CGTN reported. It is unclear whether the arrangement will continue on a regular basis.
China Eastern Airlines received its second of five COMAC C919s on July 16, just days after Hainan Airlines affiliate Suparna Airlines signed an agreement with SPDB Financial Leasing to lease 30 of the type.
Pegasus Airlines agreed to buy 36 new Airbus A321neos, in line with its strategy to modernize its fleet. Pegasus had previously modified its Airbus order signed in 2012, to include a total of 114 new aircraft with amendments made in 2017, 2021 and 2022. The delivery of the 36 newly ordered aircraft, in addition to its existing orders, is planned to be completed by the end of 2029. As a result, the original order for 100 A320/321neo family aircraft, placed by Istanbul-headquartered LCC Pegasus with Airbus in 2012, has now been extended to a total of 150 aircraft. Among these, 108 are A321neos.
The Asiana Pilots Union (APU) plans to hold an indefinite strike from July 24, following a long-running standoff with the South Korean airline regarding a new contract proposal.
South Korean air taxi startup Plana Aero has agreed to sell 30 of its six-passenger hybrid electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) air taxis to domestic regional startup Hi-Air, representing the third sale to date for the regional air mobility platform. Under the terms of their recently announced letter of intent, Plana will deliver 10 of its CP-01 aircraft to Hi-Air beginning in 2031, with the remaining 20 to be provided later. The two companies also announced an agreement to “jointly develop business models for passengers and cargo transportation based on advanced air mobility [AAM] aircraft.”
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