Sustainable Fuel

Air France-KLM, Total, Groupe ADP and Airbus Join Forces to Decarbonize Air Transportation and Carry Out The First Long-Haul Flight Powered By Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Produced in France.

At 3:40 p.m., Air France Flight 342 took off from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport’s Terminal 2E for Montreal with its tanks filled for the first time with sustainable aviation fuel produced in Total’s French plants.

This flight is a tangible result of the four groups’ shared ambition to decarbonize air transportation and to develop a SAF supply chain in France, prerequisite to the generalization of their use in French airports.

No modifications to storage and distribution infrastructure, aircraft or engines are required to incorporate biofuels. Their gradual introduction worldwide should significantly reduce CO2 emissions from air transportation, in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development
Goals.

The biofuel used for this flight was made from waste and residue sourced from the circular economy. Total produced the SAF from used cooking oil at its La Mède biorefinery in southern France and at its Oudalle factory near Le Havre, without using any virgin plant-based oil.

This first 100% French SAF received ISCC-EU certification from the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification System, an independent organization that guarantees sustainability. The 16% blend on this flight avoided the emission of 20 tons of CO2. By developing and supporting France’s first industrial SAF production, Air France-KLM, Total, ADP Group and Airbus are paving the way for France to drive innovation in the energy and environmental transition. French legislation calls for aircraft to use at least 1% SAF by 2022 for all flights originating in France, ahead of the European ambition scheduled to gradually ramp up to 2% by 2025 and 5% by 2030, as part of the European Green Deal. To meet these requirements, Total will also produce SAF at its Grandpuits zero-crude platform near Paris as from 2024.

The flight also illustrates the synergy of the different drivers for reducing aviation’s environmental footprint, i.e., sustainable aviation fuel, latest-generation aircraft and electrification of ground operations. The Airbus A350 used for the flight consumes 25% less fuel than its predecessor. What’s more, the aircraft was serviced by the first 100% all-electric refueling truck, developed in France with Total expertise, and all of the ground support equipment used by Air France was fully electric powered. Air France-KLM is a pioneer in testing sustainable aviation fuels. KLM made its first SAF-powered flight in 2009. Since then, the Group has multiplied the number of innovative programs. Between 2014 and 2016, for example, it carried out 78 Air France flights powered by a 10% SAF blend in collaboration with a Total affiliate. These tests showed that the use of SAF had no impact on the reliability of airline operations. Air France-KLM intends to strengthen its leadership in SAF in the years ahead, while contributing to research on future generations of aircraft. In addition to this flight, Airbus is conducting several series of tests to certify airliners to fly with 100% SAF in the coming decades. Airbus has also installed SAF refueling stations at its industrial facilities so it can be used in production operations, as well as for aircraft deliveries. These installations contribute to Airbus’s ambition to decarbonize all of its industrial operations.

(Editor’s Note: Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is a blend of conventional aviation fuel (JET-A1) and biojet fuel made from waste and residue sourced from the circular economy (animal fat, used cooking oil, etc.). Biojet fuel has similar properties to JET-A1 and produces up to 90% fewer CO2 emissions over its lifecycle compared with the fossil equivalent.)

---

LATAM Group

LATAM Group (“LATAM”) announced the expansion of its freighter fleet growth under which it now plans to add 10 Boeing 767-300 Boeing Converted Freighters over the next three years. This will bring the fleet size to up to 21 freighters by 2023. The first aircraft will be expected to begin operations in December 2021. The Group’s freighter fleet growth plan initially included four firm conversion orders with Boeing and another four conversion options. Two months after the initial announcement, LATAM has exercised the four options, eight planes, and the conversion of two additional Boeing 767-300ERs. This means that the freighter fleet will be comprised of up to 21 aircraft by the end of 2023. Upon completion of the plan the Group will have almost doubled its freighter capacity as well as reduced the average fleet age from 17 to 14 years. Growing from 11 to 21 freighter planes will enable the LATAM Group’s cargo subsidiaries to expand and reinforce their capacity to, from and within South America, and positioning the Group as the main freighter operator group in the region. The first eight airplanes have been allocated to markets that are critical for key customer segments.

LATAM also announced that it will use some of the 767-300ERs that are awaiting conversion under a hybrid format to benefit customers in the short term. The seats will be completely removed from three planes for this purpose in order to have a payload of up to 46 tons per flight. Two of these planes are already operational. The third one is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2021. Furthermore, LATAM is optimizing commonality across their fleet of 767-300 production and converted freighters to maximize capacity, including the ability to transport delicate goods.

---

FTS

Qingdao Airlines announced that it is fully committed to
expand and accelerate the deployment of high-speed in-flight satellite Internet on its aircraft fleet. This follows the successful evaluation of the first commercial high-speed Internet flight trial in China that was launched by Qingdao Airlines on July 2020. This marks a major milestone in this groundbreaking collaboration project whereby FTS is supplying the Xstream™ high-speed satellite inflight system while TD Link Technology is providing internet service operations.

The Xstream™ system suite developed by FTS comprises of XstreamSAT™ satellite communication, XstreamLITE™ cabin WiFi, and XstreamOP™ cloud management platform. It is the first China developed IFEC system to receive all three major international airworthiness STC certifications from FAA, EASA and CAAC. The system is integrated with China Satcom’s ChinaSat-16 Ka-HTS satellites and is capable of providing up to 150 Mbps bandwidth between aircraft and ground. Over the past 10 months, the trial aircraft has flown more than 1,200 flights flawlessly with impeccable service, delighting Qingdao Airlines passengers with unprecedented inflight connected experience equivalent to ground 4G performance, with services such as movies, social media, live video broadcast, maps and e-commerce (with mobile payment).

FTS XStreamOP™ ground-based cloud management platform which has been in service since beginning trial has proven to be critical in ensuring service delivery with real-time monitoring of airborne systems, connectivity status, as well as consolidating all inflight data for ground analytics. This open cloud architecture enables the airline and service providers to integrate with airline backend IT to provide an efficient and easy-to-use method of managing all the on-
board internet equipment and services.

Although the coronavirus pandemic has brought far-reaching and fundamental impact to aviation, the China domestic air travel is leading the industry in terms of recovery and even growing beyond pre-COVID period. A spokesperson at FTS commented they are seeing more confidence, optimism and interest from domestic airlines on making long term investment on Inflight connectivity as they believe this is a pivotal enabler to drive digital transformation of passenger service, airline operations and auxiliary revenue from which airlines could benefit to achieve recovery and long-term sustainability.

The decision from Qingdao Airlines is not taken lightly especially in the current challenging climate. It came after rigorous scrutiny of trial results concluded that FTS system performance, reliability and benefits far exceeded airline expectations. Qingdao Airlines’ innovative and pioneering spirit has attracted strong endorsement and support from local government, CAAC and industry bodies. After carefully
weighing all these factors and firmly believing in the benefits of connected aircraft, the airline stood firm in its decision to go full steam and accelerate the fleet-wide adoption of inflight
connectivity.

In preparation for the accelerated fleet wide deployment, FTS is ramping up its operations and capabilities. It announced that it has obtained CAAC PMA certification and Part 145 maintenance and repair overhaul approvals for its range of components.

---

Boeing

In observance of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in the United States, Boeing announced the company is donating $1.1 million to organizations working to combat anti-Asian hate and promote justice, advance appreciation for AAPI history and culture, and fund community service projects and leadership development programs in communities across the United States.

“At Boeing, we know that being a truly equitable, diverse and inclusive company requires a commitment to our team members here at the company and in the communities where our employees and partners live and work. These investments build on Boeing’s longstanding commitment to supporting those in underserved and marginalized communities and recognizes the challenging issues currently being faced by the Asian American and Pacific Islander community,” said Tim Keating, Boeing’s executive vice president of Government Operations.

*Boeing’s contribution will support 17 national and local initiatives. Nonprofits receiving immediate grant funding include:

• Asian Americans Advancing Justice – $200,000
• Asian American Heritage Council of Central Florida (FL) – $10,000
• Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy – $10,000
• Asian Counseling & Referral Services (WA) – $75,000
• Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (OR) – $10,000
• Asian Pacific Cultural Center (WA) – $10,000
• Little Tokyo Service Center (CA) – $35,000
• Asian American Youth Foundation (MO) – $15,000
• Neighborhood House (WA) – $100,00
• One America (WA) – $75,000
• Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance (CA) – $35,000
• Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center – $250,000
• Society of Asian Scientists & Engineers – $50,000
• Stop AAPI Hate – $50,000
• Tacoma Community House (WA) – $90,000
• United Cambodian Community (CA) – $35,000

In 2020, Boeing invested more than $15.6 million to promote racial equity and social justice programs – including funding aimed at diversifying the aerospace pipeline.

(Editor’s Note: As Boeing hustles to evolve from the 21 month MAX crisis, quality problems and the management of the repair operations of the 787, 737 MAX, 767 Tanker, are to be reviewed by the government. Boeing (and the FAA as well) are to be reviewed by the US House Committee on Transportation. These reviews are probably based on the continuing issues we have all seen on these planes. Stay Tuned on this one because if issues continue, it will be quite an impact for both organizations and products … especially with any new management and their decisions!)

---

Other News

• A friend sent us a very interesting video on why planes do not fly over Tibet – Do you know why? Here is the answer: 4 dangerous reasons why airplanes don’t fly over Tibet – YouTube
• Bet you didn’t know that plastic could be turned into jet fuel! Plastic waste can now be turned into jet fuel in one hour – The Academic Times