With investments from American Airlines, Avolon, Honeywell and Rolls-Royce, plus commitments for up to 1,000 aircraft, electric air-taxi developer Vertical Aerospace has reached agreement with blank-check company Broadstone Acquisition to go public in a deal that values the UK startup at $2.2 billion.
Russia’s Irkut Corporation has scheduled the initial deliveries of its new MC-21 narrowbody passenger airliner, the first six of which will go to Rossiya Airlines in 2022.
Boeing’s inventory of completed, undelivered 787s grew to about 100 aircraft at the end of the first quarter, largely due to a five-month delivery pause that ended in late March.
Regional air mobility startup Electra has unveiled its first commercial product, a hybrid-electric aircraft designed to fly a pilot and seven passengers up to 500 mi. with takeoff and landing distances of just 100 ft.
After examining a range of scenarios, the airline decided it is better to receive the aircraft now rather than deferring them, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta said during IndiGo’s latest results presentation.
Airbus booked seven new gross orders and delivered 50 aircraft to 32 customers in May, continuing momentum following the year-long downturn that has airlines revamping their fleet plans.
Joby Aviation has laid out its road map to achieve type certification of its electric air taxi and obtain its air operator certificate in order to begin commercial aerial ridesharing services in U.S. cities in 2024.
Heathrow Airport has integrated sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) into its fuel distribution in a proof of concept that the airport hopes will lead to greater quantities being used in the future.
The latest issues holding up Boeing 787 deliveries will be resolved soon, the OEM said, and its target of handing over about 100 aircraft in its inventory by year-end remains realistic.
Boeing plans to evaluate 20 new technologies later this year on an Alaska Airlines-owned 737-9 under the eighth round of the OEM’s long-running ecoDemonstrator program.
The United deal, which also covers options for 35 additional aircraft, envisages introduction of the first civil supersonic services on trans-Atlantic and Pacific routes by 2029.
“It would be more efficient to have only one type of aircraft,” COO Francesco Sciortino said. “We also need a long-term perspective for a replacement for the Boeing 767.”
