Boom Technology selects Engine Designer for Supersonic Plane

Sakshi Jain

15 Dec 2022

Boom Technology, an aviation startup, claims that it would use engines developed by a company known for producing small engines to power supersonic jets.

Boom announced on Tuesday that GE Additive, a branch of General Electric, will assist Florida Turbine Technologies, or FTT, in designing the engines.

According to Boom, the aircraft might conduct test flights in 2026 and begin carrying passengers a few years later. According to the company, its Overture 88-seat jet will have four engines, reach a top speed of 1,300 mph, or 1.7 times the speed of sound, and run on sustainable aviation fuel.

The Denver company was criticised heavily in the aviation community for its aggressive pace and conviction that supersonic passenger flights may be both financially and environmentally advantageous. Concorde, a supersonic aircraft that flew transatlantic routes, was neither and it ceased operations in 2003.

Throughout the 27-year history of Concorde operations, there had only been one tragic accident.

Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde passenger aircraft operating as part of an international charter from Paris to New York, crashed on July 25, 2000, shortly after takeoff, killing all 109 aboard as well as four individuals on the ground.

Air France Flight 4590 crashed on July 25, 2000, shortly after takeoff

On October 24, 2003, the supersonic Concorde jet performs its final commercial passenger flight, flying from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Heathrow Airport in London at twice the speed of sound.

British Airways' last Concorde flight departed on October 24, 2003

It will be difficult to get the plane licenced since regulators are being extra careful following two fatal Boeing Max crashes.

To prevent sonic boom damage, flights would probably be restricted to ocean crossings or would need to slow down over land. 

Also read: A new supersonic corridor unveiled?

“I understand that people say Boom's got its work cut out for us. People who think we're not going to get there I look forward to having them on board a flight.”

–Blake Scholl, CEO & Founder, Boom Technology

Boom also recently updated the design of Overture. The lack of an engine for Overture has been a major source of doubt. After generating some engineering studies, Rolls Royce abandoned its partnership with Boom early this year, and other top engine manufacturers signalled they had little interest in stepping in.

Boom Overture

Also read: Boom Supersonic unveils updated “Overture” supersonic airliner design

Before choosing FTT, which is primarily owned by Kratos Turbine Technologies, and GE Additive, which is better renowned for 3D printing than for aerospace manufacturing, Boom reportedly considered a number of other engine designs and producers, according to Scholl.

Scholl claimed that Boom will save money by creating a brand-new engine from scratch rather than modifying an engine created for subsonic flight. According to him, this will be the first engine made specifically for sustained commercial supersonic flying.

Although neither airline would disclose how much they put down, American Airlines and United Airlines have made deposits for upcoming Overtures.

Boom intends to construct Overture in Greensboro, North Carolina, in part due to the city's proximity to an ocean where the planes may be tested without shaking nearby buildings' windows.

(With inputs from Denver7)

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Bumble Bee flights to unveil an air taxi prototype by 2023

Sakshi Jain

14 Dec 2022

India's first human-carrying prototype– Bumble Bee flights, will debut in April 2023 and will establish an assembly in Odisha for the production of air taxis.

On Tuesday, December 13, Bangalore-based Bumble Bee Flights Pvt Ltd announced that SRAM & MRAM Technologies and Resources Ltd. of the UK had invested Rs 300 crore ($37 million) in the company.

According to the company, the money would be used to establish an assembly plant in Odisha for the production of air taxis. The start-up has created and developed India's first autonomous Air Mobility Solution capable of human transportation with multiple use case scenarios.

Bumble Bee is India's first autonomous Air Mobility Solution capable of human transportation with multiple use case scenarios

The Bengaluru-based startup, which was established in early 2022 by serial entrepreneur and expert in Air Mobility Solutions Arjun Das, would use the money to establish an assembly facility in Odisha for manufacturing the air taxis, which may be used for logistics, leisure, or even defence applications.

By April 2023, the business hopes to release the first prototype. By 2024, Bee Flights, a brand owned by Bumble Bee Flights, will be producing certified and producible air taxis. Additionally, compared to helicopters that weigh up to 1000 kg or more, Bee Flights' air taxis would be powered by solar-charged interchangeable batteries and would weigh only 300 kg.

In contrast to helicopters, which require specific helipads, they can carry one person and one bag and can land on the rooftops of buildings if there is enough room. These flying taxis can go 20 kilometres in 20 minutes.

Bumble Bee Flights will collaborate with operators from all around the world to service, support, and manage the operations of these air taxis while designing and manufacturing them.

In the meanwhile, getting a certification for the US, UK, UAE, India, and Singapore would be the first stage.

Also read: The first self-flying four-seater, eVTOL air taxi unveiled by Wisk

“eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft are the future of urban mobility and transport. These autonomous air taxis would not only ease the already burdened urban road infrastructure but will also work towards reducing carbon footprints.”

–Arjun Das, Serial Entrepreneur & Expert in Air Mobility Solutions

Also read: Is eVTOL currently a possibility or already a reality?

He went on to say, "We are like the Boeing or Airbus for Air Mobility Solutions," pointing out that Bee1 is the first Indian air taxi to receive certification in multiple nations and that it will be used for a variety of tasks, such as human transportation, air ambulance, air taxi, and in the logistics and supply chain sectors.

The money was given to the startup at the recently finished Make In Odisha Conclave 2022.

Bumble Bee was funded to establish an assembly plant in Odisha for the production of air taxis; was unveiled in the Odisha Conclave 2022

According to Das, this is also a step towards putting India and Odisha on the world map for air mobility solutions.

Urban air mobility, or UAM, is expected to experience 30% annual growth between 2021 and 2040, reaching $1.5 trillion. This was estimated by the company named Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company.

Arjun Das looks positive about the start-up and claims that Bumble Bee would be as simple as ordering a taxi from Ola or Uber!

(With inputs from Business Today)

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BLR Metaport - First phase of the metaverse experience at Bengaluru airport launched

Radhika Bansal

14 Dec 2022

The first phase of the metaverse experience at Bengaluru airport - BLR Metaport - was launched on December 13. Terminal 2 (T2) of Kempegowda International Airport has become one of the world's first airport terminals that can be viewed virtually on metaverse, Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL)  said in an official release on December 13.

The newly launched Terminal 2 is an outcome of the Joint Innovation Centre (JIC). The collaboration was announced by BIAL, INTEL and AWS in April 2022.

A metaverse is a shared virtual space that uses augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology to create a hyper-realistic, immersive, and interactive experience.

https://twitter.com/BLRAirport/status/1602586319330324480

The BLR Metaport has been created by Amazon Web Services (AWS) in collaboration with Polygon to give users an immersive, three-dimensional (3D) view of the newly opened Terminal 2 at BLR Airport, BIAL said. With the help of their smart devices, interested travellers and the public can virtually tour and navigate the new state-of-the-art terminal at www.blrmetaport.com.

"We believe that it is important to connect with a new generation of our global audience through the Metaverse. We also have several initiatives planned around the BLR Metaport, which promise to increase ways in which we can engage with our global audience and enhance business impact over the next few years."

Satyaki Raghunath, Chief Strategy and Development Officer, Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) 

Polygon Companies APAC Head, Arpit Sharma, said that the Metaport is expected to "drive a digital economy that can be accessed by every individual in the world."

The BLR Metaport is based on the principles of decentralization, in which control and decision-making pass from a centralized entity to a distributed network. Using the Polygon Blockchain, users will be able to trade digital assets seamlessly and securely in the future.

There can be digital artwork at the BLR Metaport, certificates for completing training courses related to the industry, collectables, utility and commemorative NFTs. Through BLR Metaport, users will be able to shop from their favourite brands from anywhere in the world.

BIAL Metaport platform is made up of AWS and uses the “Polygon Blockchain’. The Joint Innovation Centre aims to build new business models with the help of emerging technologies and passenger experiences and lead in the technology innovation in India’s commercial aviation.

The estimated cost of constructing the first phase of terminal 2 is reportedly INR 13,000 crore, and it will have a built-up area of roughly 2.5 lakh square metres. Another 4.41 lakh square metres will be added to the terminal during the second phase. The first phase of the new terminal is expected to serve 25 million passengers a year.

On November 11, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the latest terminal 2 at Kempegowda International Airport. He also unveiled the Kempegowda statue on the same day which is named the ‘statue of prosperity.’

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Mumbai International Airport sets a new record, handling 1.50 lakh passengers in one day

Sakshi Jain

13 Dec 2022

Mumbai International Airport handled 1,50,988 passengers on December 10, 2022, shattering the previous record.

In addition to the 892 ATMs, the total number of travellers stated above included 111,441 domestic passengers and 39,547 overseas passengers. By servicing 150,988 customers on December 10, 2022, CSMIA broke its own record for the largest single-day performance of the year.

The Mumbai airport has had a 44% growth over the years 2021–2022, with a 140% increase in international passenger movements and a 26% increase in domestic passenger movements.

Also read: Operations at Mumbai Airport hit by fibre cable damage

Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) is one of the busiest single-runway airports in the world. According to MIAL, there were 1,11,441 domestic passengers on December 10 and 39,547 international passengers as well as 892 air traffic movements.

Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) is one of the busiest single-runway airports in the world

According to Mumbai International Airport Ltd., the most recent figure was 97% of the pre-pandemic record high for a single day of passenger traffic, which was 1,56,329 people handled on December 21, 2018. 

According to airline sources, the record-breaking weekend travel is a sign of things to come because increased passenger traffic is anticipated in the final week of December when revellers rush the airport.

The "passenger flow and queue monitoring system," a computerised instrument used by the airport operation team to track passenger footfalls in the security processing zone, is one of the measures implemented to manage the surge in passengers at Mumbai airport.

To decrease the Automated Tray Retrieval System (ATRS) rejection rates, on-ground terminal operation teams are employed at pre-security checks for the removal of security-restricted articles. To ensure speedy turnaround for security trays, staff are stationed at the end of the ATRS machines. 

Increased passenger traffic is anticipated in the final week of December

Passengers clearing security at the Mumbai airport's single checkpoint include both domestic and foreign travellers. Mumbai International Airports have initiated 'Passenger Centric' Key Initiatives to support increasing passenger loads as a result of the aforementioned. 

The CSMIA has expanded its human resource base by hiring "Passenger Service Executives" in addition to making infrastructure changes in order to meet passenger expectations.

“Terminal duty managers are present at security check for managing the queues and to prioritize Senior citizens and passengers with a child in arm in coordination with CISF. Given that immigration and customs are sovereign functions, active on ground coordination is done for queue management and resource mobilization. The terminal operations team are deployed at the immigration hall to guide the passengers to designated counters.”

–MIAL

At Terminal 2 of Mumbai International Airport Ltd (CSMIA), the Digi Yatra biometric boarding technology will soon be accessible at approved touch points and Airlines from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm.

https://twitter.com/CSMIA_Official/status/1602636992961187840

The Indian government and the Ministry of Civil Aviation are in charge of this project. Digi Yatra wants to create an enjoyable and memorable digital travel experience. It is a fully biometric-based self-boarding solution for a seamless transition from registration to boarding.

Also read: IATA applauds India’s DigiYatra’s Contactless Boarding; keen to implement it globally

All these helped Mumbai manage passengers since the pandemic broke out in the summer of 2020. Around 1.50 lakh domestic and international travellers travelled through the airport on departure and arrival flights on Saturday, December 10.

(With inputs from Times Now)

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Domestic airlines recorded 526 bird strikes issues between 2018-22

Sakshi Jain

13 Dec 2022

A number of domestic airlines in India have reported as many as 526 safety issues as a result of bird strikes between 2018 and October 2022.

This was informed by the Parliament on Monday, December 12. The Minister of State for Civil Aviation, V K Singh, stated in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha that airport operators must comply with civil aviation regulations and take the required steps to identify, manage, and reduce the danger of collision between animals and aircraft.

Also read: Bird strikes – a serious threat in aviation

IndiGo recorded 196 safety issues related to bird strikes between 2019 to Oct 2022

IndiGo and SpiceJet recorded 196 and 64 safety issues, respectively, because of bird strikes, according to the minister's data.

During that time, Go Air (now Go First) and Air Asia reported 60 and 51 of these safety-related concerns, respectively. According to the statistics, Vistara and Air India both recorded 50 safety issues linked to bird strikes within the time period.

Similar to this, Air India Express recorded 12 bird-related safety incidents, while the former Jet Airways reported 22 and Jetlite reported 3 within the same time period.

Alliance Air and Blue Dart each reported seven and six of these safety problems, respectively. According to the data, the newest airline Akasa Air, Truejet, and Star Air each had two instances of this.

Also read: Bird strikes on aircraft increased by 49.3% in the first 6 months of 2022

Bird hits are defined as any aerial animal (such as bats) striking with a plane. A bird strike can be risky since it could harm the turbine of the aircraft and start a fire if the bird gets lodged in the engine.

According to a survey by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that was carried out in 91 nations, at least 34 instances of bird hits are reported daily worldwide. Over $1 billion is lost every year as a result of bird impact incidents. According to the survey, 92% of bird strikes do not result in any significant damage.

92% of bird strikes do not result in any significant damage: Survey

Bird strikes have occurred on a number of occasions in India between 2019 and October 2022.

After being attacked by a bird on Thursday, August 4, Go First's flight to Chandigarh made a return to Ahmedabad.

On June 19, shortly after taking off from the Patna airport, an engine on a SpiceJet plane heading for Delhi and carrying 185 passengers caught fire. The plane then made an emergency landing. A bird strike caused the engine to malfunction.

The minister added that in order to maintain the security of air operations, the DGCA has published a number of regulations and recommendations for the management of potential wildlife hazards at licenced airports.

Also read: A bird for a bird? Say hello to “Robird” that defends airports against bird strikes

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) requested that the airports do an assessment of the wildlife danger to aircraft and rank them accordingly.

It required a process for the airports to keep track of and document information on animal movement. Additionally, the document recommended that airports have a process in place to alert pilots "in response to any significant wildlife concentration or activity both on and in the vicinity of the airport".

DGCA requested airports do an assessment of the wildlife danger to aircraft and rank them accordingly

According to it, the wildlife hazard management program's main component is routine patrols. In order to prevent wildlife from learning or growing used to the timing of patrols, it was suggested that the patrols be conducted in random patterns rather than following a set route.

The report also recommended instructing aerodrome operators to submit a monthly action taken report on the implementation of the wildlife hazard management programme and to also submit data on animal strikes by the seventh day of each month.

Source: India.com

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Vistara launches daily non-stop Mumbai-Muscat flights on its A320

Radhika Bansal

13 Dec 2022

Full service carrier Vistara on Monday, December 12 launched daily, non-stop flights from Mumbai to Muscat, a move that will see the airline expand its footprint in the lucrative Middle East region. The inaugural flight departed from Mumbai at 2000 hours (IST) and arrived in Muscat at 2135 hours.

Muscat is the fourth destination in the Gulf region for Vistara, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines.

Vistara launches daily non-stop Mumbai-Muscat flights on its A320

The airline said there had been a consistent rise in passenger volumes and demand from the Gulf countries, paving the way for the airline to bolster its presence in the region. The airline further stated that it is the only carrier to offer the choice of premium economy class on this route, in addition to business and economy classes. This will be a daily service on the airline's Airbus A320.

https://twitter.com/airvistara/status/1602364120833015808

ALSO READ - Vistara to commence flights between Mumbai and Muscat on its A320neo aircraft

The schedule of flights, effective December 12, will be Mumbai-Muscat (flight UK 0233) daily at 20:00 hrs and Muscat-Mumbai (flight UK 0234) daily at 22:55 hrs.

ALSO READ - Vistara inaugurates daily non-stop flight between Mumbai and Abu Dhabi

Muscat is the third Gulf city (Abu Dhabi and Jeddah being the other two) that Vistara has added to its network in the last four months. Vistara also operates daily flights from Dubai to/from Mumbai.

“The launch of operations to Muscat is in line with our goal to steadily enhance our footprint in the Middle East. The firm bilateral relationship and robust cultural and economic ties between India and states in the Gulf region have given great impetus to our growth plans, and our successful business on the other Middle Eastern routes is a testament to that. We are excited to bring India’s finest full-service carrier to Muscat with daily connectivity from Mumbai and are confident that Vistara with its award-winning product and services will be a much-preferred carrier on this route as well.”

Vinod Kannan, CEO, Vistara

Apart from the middle east region, Vistara is also aiming to bolster connectivity to the South Asian region as well. Recently, it launched 4x weekly direct flights between Pune and Singapore.

The airline has a fleet of 54 aircraft, including 41 Airbus A320s, five Airbus A321neo, five Boeing B737-800NG and three Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.

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