Thales News | 2021 Boeing Deliveries & Orders | Qatar Airways | Other News
THALES
- AVIOBOOK strengthens its position as leader of the Electronic Flight Folder market with a record breaking 3 contracts signed in fall 2021.
- AVIOBOOK has passed a huge milestone in its growth and development, reaching over 2600 tails using AVIOBOOK’s suite of applications.
Despite difficult economic conditions in the aviation industry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, AVIOBOOK has proved that its robust and reliable suite of applications can bring concrete business benefits to airlines around the world. The company is thus positioning itself as the practical solution for EFB software that will support airlines in the post-pandemic recovery.
The broad portfolio of new customers demonstrates the appeal of AVIOBOOK’s solutions. In India, low-cost carrier IndiGo has chosen AVIOBOOK for its fleet of over 270 aircraft to support its operations as the largest airline in the country by market share. And two members of the Indigo Partners Group, JetSMART in South America and Lynx Air in Canada, saw in AVIOBOOK a strong partner to help accompany their rapid growth plans.
Built on a decade of experience, AVIOBOOK is a proven solution that differentiates itself through its deep back-office integration and extensive user-driven functionalities. AVIOBOOK’s experience in the development of adaptable and flexible solutions, with previous implementations at 60+ airlines around the world, has been key to ensuring the success of these projects.
AVIOBOOK is proud to welcome IndiGo, JetSMART and Lynx Air to the AVIOBOOK community.
MORE THALES NEWS:
- Thales to create highest ever Wi-Fi hotspot as it joins forces with Airbus Perlan Mission II stratospheric glider project
Thales announced its partnership with Airbus Perlan Mission II, an internationally celebrated and world record setting climate and aerospace research project, aiming to fly Thales’ latest mobile Satellite communications system, FlytLink, in a zero-emission glider to more than twice the altitude of a commercial airline flight. Through this collaboration, the world will get a live, front row view of the stratosphere and hear from glider pilots as they soar to the edge of space via FlytLink. The Nevada-based Airbus Perlan Mission II team is planning for a possible return to flight this year in the U.S. and El Calafate, Argentina.
Airbus Perlan Mission II is an initiative of The Perlan Project, a non-profit, international team of scientists, engineers, and aviators. The group has already set aviation world altitude records in the experimental Perlan 2 glider, which was designed, built and deployed to fly to 90,000 feet without an engine. Originally launched in 2015, the Perlan 2 achieved its highest record-setting flight of above 76,000 feet in 2018. The organization’s mission is to conduct climate, atmospheric and aeronautical research at extreme high altitudes. Applications of their research include informing more accurate climate-change models, innovating fuel-efficient or zero-emission aviation, and even demonstrating the feasibility of using energy-efficient winged aircraft on Mars.
Soaring too high to use ground-based communications, the Perlan 2 glider will be fitted with the FlytLink Thales Iridium Certus based satellite communications (satcom) system. This means that for the first time it will be possible to make a live feed available to STEM students, researchers and aviation enthusiasts around the world while the aircraft is in flight, enabling access to real-time data downloads. FlytLink is the latest generation of Iridium-based satellite communications systems for cockpit and crew operations. Anywhere in the world, whether flying over the poles, the ocean or land, FlytLink offers coverage and connectivity for critical operations. Its resilience, high dependability and low size, weight and power make it adaptable to any aircraft, including gliders such as Perlan.
“We look forward to Perlan 2 carrying the Thales logo as well as one of the company’s most cutting-edge communication solutions to even greater heights,” said Ed Warnock, CEO of The Perlan Project. “By exploring the stratosphere in an airborne research vehicle that creates zero pollution, we hope to unlock discoveries never possible before. Through this exciting partnership with Thales, we also look forward to inspiring new generations of scientists, engineers and pilots in environmentally conscious aviation.”
“We are delighted to support Airbus Perlan Mission II because we believe the project aligns with Thales’ own strategies for future, greener aviation and the environment,” said Marc Duval Destin, Vice-President Strategy, Product Policy and Innovation for Thales’ Flight Avionics activities. ”We hope that the live stream will encourage a new generation of young people to consider careers in aerospace, science and engineering.”
When Perlan 2 reaches its next record-breaking target altitude of over 90,000 feet, it will be the highest a winged aircraft has ever flown in level flight. Equipped with cutting edge aviation technology and using spacecraft engineering, its glider wings can fly in less than 3% of normal air density at temperatures of minus 70 degrees Celsius approximating the atmospheric conditions on Mars.
“Our equipment will be in an unpressurised environment,” added Duval Destin. “So, this is a great opportunity for us to validate the design and performance of our solution in such extremely non-benign conditions.”
Designed to support a wide range of use cases in maritime, land mobile and aviation markets, Thales Iridium Certus based satcom solutions are already used widely among vessels and land/mobile applications to keep critical communications when it is needed at all times, anywhere on the planet.
BOEING
Last year the airframer delivered 340 aircraft, broken down as follows:
2021
- 245 MAXs
- 18 737NGs
- 7 747s
- 32 767s
- 24 777s
- 14 787s
2020 Deliveries Totaled 157 aircraft
- 27 MAXs
- 16 737NGs
- five 747s
- 30 767s
- 26 777s
- 53 787s
In 2021 Boeing booked 909 orders (535 net) vs 184 (-471) in 2020, and ended the year with backlog of 5,136 vs 4,997.
QATAR AIRWAYS
Munich Airport welcomes a further increase in so-called cargo-only services. As of today, Qatar Airways is operating regular flights to and from Munich with a cargo version of its Boeing 777. The routing starts on Mondays in Bangalore, India, and leads via Qatar’s capital Doha to Munich and then on to Chicago. On the return flight, in exactly the opposite rotation, the freighter reaches Munich every Tuesday. Qatar Airways operates this service on behalf of the international logistics provider DB Schenker. Munich’s cargo network will thus be expanded by more significant destinations. This new freight service proves once again that, even in times of pandemic, Munich Airport plays an important role as a reliable part of the infrastructure and a key component of global supply chains.
OTHER NEWS
- Here is a quote from Audrey Hepburn that we really love! “Nothing is impossible”, the word itself says “I’m Possible”….”
- Here’s How the Top Flying Taxi Companies Compare – Bloomberg
- Qatar Airways becomes first airline to make Aviation Carbon Exchange trade using IATA’s settlement platform – GreenAir News
- UPDATED (21/12/21) – The 2021 airline bankruptcy list now open — Allplane
Power, Power, Power... it used to be location, location, location, but with the recent airline announcements to expand off-aircraft data services (internet, mobile phone, SMS, etc), Astronics is excited about the complementary nature of these systems with our world leading EmPower® in-seat PED power systems. Most airlines installing new data services on their aircraft are also expanding EmPower® into all seats on their fleet because they realize depleted passenger batteries do not make money.”