Fiona Church

Southwest Airlines – a Corporate Partner of the FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub – and Archer Aviation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop operational plans for electric air taxi networks utilising eVTOL aircraft at California airports where the airline operates. Paul Cullen, Vice President Real Estate, Southwest Airlines: “Southwest is eager to explore the convenience Archer’s air taxis could provide customers flying Southwest at airports in busy urban areas.” Nikhil Goel, Chief Commercial Officer, Archer: “By putting together Southwest’s impressive network of airports in California and their frequent intrastate flights with our planned network, Southwest customers could someday complete door-to-door trips like Santa Monica to Napa in less than three hours.” Read the full story >> https://lnkd.in/exFh4ejn #airlines #aviation #AdvancedAirMobility #UrbanAirMobility #customerexperience #passengerexperience

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As airspace competition intensifies with drones, wind turbines, and new air taxi operations, the aviation industry must adapt air traffic management and regulatory frameworks to ensure safety and efficiency amidst technological advancements, changing flight paths, and low-level airspace congestion. Read more in our blog.

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Airport Operations - Using an ineffective legacy system? ⏳  Taupo Airport Authority's legacy system didn’t meet their aviation-specific needs. OneReg offered a tailored solution, like runway surface condition reporting, directly relevant to aviation industry regulations.  "The previous system we were using just wasn't accelerating at that pace to be able to capture these things that were cropping up." – Kim Gard, Taupo Airport  OneReg’s solution manages your entire operation – giving you peace of mind that everything is up to date, compliant and under control.  Tailor your compliance efforts with OneReg – be a smooth operator. 🌐 https://hubs.la/Q02R269D0  #Compliance #Aviation #OneReg #SmoothOperator 

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Joby “Applies for Aircraft Certification in Australia” Joby Aviation announced this week it has formally applied for its eVTOL Aircraft to be certified for use in Australia, reports Business Wire. The application to Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) for the validation of an FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) type certification builds on a bi-lateral agreement between the U.S regulator and CASA and lays the groundwork for the introduction of electric air taxis in Australia. Joby’s eVTOL is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200 mph, offering high-speed mobility, zero operating emissions, and with a fraction of the noise produced by helicopters. https://lnkd.in/dWZXQgBU #JobyAviation #eVTOL #AustraliaAviation #CASAValidation #ElectricAirTaxis #FutureOfMobility #SustainableTransport #UrbanAirMobility

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Antarctica is extreme, remote, and unforgiving. New Zealand needs safe and fit-for-purpose infrastructure that can withstand extreme conditions and support world-leading science. Today, Antarctica New Zealand has announced a plan to reset the Scott Base Redevelopment to deliver this. It comes after an options analysis and independent review. Next steps will be a reviewed design and a revised business case that will be considered by Cabinet. New Zealand's commitment to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean still stands and our reasons for undertaking the project remain the same.    We're looking forward to this reset and the project ramping back up. More here: https://bit.ly/SBRplan

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New Zealand Emerging Aviation Technologies Forum - Key Messages The Emerging Aviation Technologies Forum (EATF) is an initiative started by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of New Zealand, with support from the Ministry of Transport and the New Zealand Defence Force, and strong industry collaboration. The purpose of this forum is to provide strategic advice to regulators regarding technologies that will enter, or are likely to enter, the New Zealand aviation system in the next ten years and beyond. The Forum met on 24 July 2024 after conducting a series of workshops focused on priority technologies of Cyber Protected Aviation Systems, Space Planes, HAPS, UTM, Digital Towers, and Evolved Conventional Electric Aircraft. The key messages from this Forum were: It was felt that cyber security underpins many of the emerging aviation technologies. It was noted that the CAA had set up the Reduced and Zero Emissions Project and that this was broadly addressing the initial Evolved Conventional Electric Aircraft priorities. It was agreed BVLOS approvals are a key enabler to unlocking more advanced UAS operations including Space Planes and HAPS and need to be enabled as routine by the regulators. It was agreed to work on further detail to clarify the problem statements around UTM ecosystem and related operations. The Forum was aligned in recognising that Digital Towers technologies are now available and an important building block for emerging aviation. In addition to unpacking the six priority technologies, several technology agnostic themes emerged. These included: The need for readily accessible ‘sandbox’ environments. The need for flexible and adaptive airspace design. The six priority technologies touch multiple stakeholders, including existing aviation system participants. It is important that industry and government agencies continue to work together to advance aviation technological developments in support of national priorities.

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The New Zealand (Aotearoa) Emerging Aviation Technologies Forum (EATF) held a well-attended meeting on 1 May at CAA's national office in Wellington. The Forum is building knowledge to anticipate which aviation technologies are the most likely to enter the New Zealand aviation system in the next ten years, what the regulatory impacts might be, and what it means for industry and the aviation system more generally. Prioritising effort is vitally important, as the three aviation regulatory bodies involved - CAA, Ministry of Transport and the New Zealand Defence Force - are resource constrained. The Forum has identified the following areas for closer examination: High Altitude Pseudo Satellites (HAPS) and Space Planes; Digital Towers and Uncrewed Traffic Management (UTM); Cyber Protected Systems and Evolved Conventional Aircraft (Electric). The Forum considered what success would look like for this work and what timeline was needed for delivery. The Forum agreed to: • Stand up working groups as soon as possible • Examine the six areas identified and report back to the Forum • Consider a system-wide approval framework in parallel to working group analysis. The Forum will meet again in July and September, with the latter meeting taking place after the Aerospace Summit in Christchurch, on Wednesday 25 September.

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On Friday, our Chair met with members of the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand Board and the Director of Civil Aviation to meet new board members and discuss priorities for the sector. The UAVNZ Executive Committee put forward five key challenges for the CAA Board and the Director: 1. UAVs are classed as low-risk and low-priority in the 2022 - 2027 Regulatory Safety and Security Strategy - how do we change that given how much the sector is evolving? 2. Licensing for UAV Pilots - New Zealand is the only advanced economy without such a system. This could push some things out of Part 102 (relying on privileges from licenses/ratings for things like night flying), and Part 102 will also gain an established training standard that can be used in all manuals to provide a baseline competency across UAV pilots. 3. Equitable use of airspace. Why is it we allow crewed aircraft to fly in Class G airspace without even a radio on board, while UAVs always have to give way. This poses an inconvenience and a safety risk when a pilot does not read their NOTAMs and flies straight through an area where UAV operations are being conducted and the UAV pilot doesn't know they're coming. 4. Rapidly accelerating UAV technologies - is the CAA keeping up? Can UAVNZ help/collaborate in this space? 5. Enforcement action for those who are breaking the rules in serious ways (educational responses are sometimes the right tool, but we also need to see enforcement action). We undermine the value of organisations holding Part 102 certificates (and all the associated costs) when we allow people to break the rules without consequences. All of the challenges were well received during the meeting and some progress was already underway on several of the points. We look forward to a positive and ongoing relationship with the CAA to ensure the safety and efficiency of UAV operations in New Zealand.

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If you can't get more traffic rights what choice do you have but to "buy" your way into a market? Qatar Airways has long desired more service into Australian cities but has been rebuffed. Now it has a partner to serve Oz - Virgin Australia. Qatar Airways Group CEO Badr Al-Meer was tight-lipped about it's plans to take a 25% stake in Virgin Australia at the Farnborough International Air Show in July, but behind the scenes the lawyers were clearly hard at work doing their due diligence. The deal will give Qatar Airways a local partner to compete harder with the Qantas - Emirates hook up. And, this deal comes soon after the Doha-based Gulf giant took a 25% stake in South African carrier Airlink. Could Qatar's long-awaited stake in RwandAir Ltd be signed off this year? And where else is this acquisitive carrier looking? Tony Harrington Todd M. Baer Marly Rizk, MSc Linden Birns Alan Peaford, MBE Updesh Kapur Sophia Lahey James Crichton-Smith Yvonne Manzi Makolo Valerie Tan Will Löfberg

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