Maldives Hanimaadhoo International Airport to be redeveloped by India's JMC Projects

India's JMC Projects Limited has been awarded the development of Hanimaadhoo International Airport in the Maldives. JMC is already involved in flat construction and water and sewerage projects in the Maldives.

An announcement issued by the Economic Ministry on Wednesday, August 10 said the project was awarded to JMC for USD 136.6 million. 

The Hanimaadhoo International Airport is being redeveloped under a USD 800 million line of credit scheme provided by Exim Bank of India.

The Hanimaadhoo International Airport is being redeveloped under a USD 800 million line of credit scheme provided by Exim Bank of India.

Therefore, only Indian companies shortlisted by the Exim Bank were allowed to submit bids for the project. The deadline for submission of bids expired on March 21 this year.

The Hanimaadhoo Airport redevelopment project will include a 2.46 km runway and a brand new terminal with a capacity to accommodate 1.3 million passengers annually.

Other facilities needed to expand international flight services will also be established. While the airport's reconstruction is scheduled to begin later this year, it is expected to reach completion and start service in 2024.

Hanimaadhoo International Airport to be redeveloped by India's JMC Projects

After the completion of the airport project, the airport will be able to accommodate Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft for international flights. As per the Economic Ministry, direct flights to the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Africa will be operated from Hanimaadhoo.

Hanimaadhoo International Airport is located on the island of Hanimaadhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll, Maldives, opened as a domestic airport.

It was upgraded to an international airport on 2 February 2012, with the introduction of direct flights to Thiruvananthapuram in India by Maldivian. As of June 2019, it is one of three international airports in the Maldives.

SpiceJet announced the commencement of taxi service for its passengers at 28 major airports, including Dubai on Friday, August 12.

The taxi service is available in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Varanasi, Amritsar, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Pune, Tirupati, Dehradun, Port Blair, Dubai and many more cities.

https://twitter.com/flyspicejet/status/1557966874927058944

The airline stated that passengers booking SpiceJet flights will receive an SMS with details of the SpiceJet taxi service. The SMS link will enable travellers to update details of pick-up location and pick-up time.

"This end-to-end service will enhance the SpiceJet experience for our passengers. We are eliminating the stress of booking a cab to or from an airport with a convenient doorstep service, zero waiting and confirmed cabs at arrival station as well."Debojo Maharshi, Chief Business Officer, SpiceJet

When it is updated, their cab will get confirmed and a well-kept sanitized cab will be reserved for them for their departure to make their journey more convenient and hassle-free.

SpiceJet commences taxi service at 28 airports

The service offers multiple benefits such as zero cancellation fee, zero wait time, 100% confirmed, and sanitised cabs. Additionally, passengers also get an instant cashback on completing their rides with SpiceJet’s taxi service.

ALSO READ - SpiceJet in active discussion with a Middle Eastern carrier for a possible stake sale

The A380 superjumbo has many supporters around the world, but none quite as vocal and powerful as Tim Clark, the president of Emirates, by far the largest operator of the aircraft.

The Dubai-based airline purchased nearly half of all A380s ever produced and now has 118 in its fleet, about 80 of which are currently flying.

The entire fleet will be back in the air by spring of next year, as part of a resurgence that has seen the super jumbo reintroduced into service with many of its operators, after the pandemic led many to believe it was ready for retirement.

Emirates' CEO wants Airbus to create a replacement for the A380 superjumbo

"The notion that the A380 was a spent force was always a little bit of a difficult one for us to swallow," Clark told CNN Travel in an exclusive interview.

"I was chuckling to myself, thinking 'Wait and see.' We started flying the A380 into Heathrow six times a day in October of last year, and we haven't had a [free] seat on any of them since."

The airline will start refreshing the interiors of almost 70 of its A380s later this year, adding a new premium economy class that will slightly reduce passenger capacity from 519 to 484.

The most distinctive feature of Emirates' super jumbo, however, will remain the legendary shower spa, which offers first-class passengers the luxury of a full-fledged shower at 35,000 feet.

The A380 superjumbo has many supporters around the world, but none quite as vocal and powerful as Tim Clark, the president of Emirates, by far the largest operator of the aircraft.

There are two such suites, at the front of the upper deck, and Emirates is the only airline to offer them, after Clark explicitly requested them during the final design phase of the plane, in the early 2000s.

Convincing Airbus to install them, however, wasn't easy.

"Airbus had come up with a fairly sad possibility of putting benches and having little lounges there, but the notion that you would have bathrooms with showers and all the other bits and pieces was an interesting one.It was a bit of a risk for us, but these were dead spaces which we couldn't generate income from. I realized that actually they would be hugely popular. We designed the showers and then went to Airbus, who were very much arms folded at that time."Tim Clark, President, Emirates

"But before the A380's launch, the marketing program showed double page spreads with avenues of shops, lounges and cafes, so naturally I said, 'that shouldn't be a problem for you.'

"It was, but because we were such a big buyer, they complied. And it's no mean feat trying to get water up two decks, keep the pressure up, the heating and all that. But we succeeded, they worked with us, and the rest is history. People talked about these showers for years and they still do."

The airline will start refreshing the interiors of almost 70 of its A380s later this year, adding a new premium economy class that will slightly reduce passenger capacity from 519 to 484.

Clark has long lamented the fact that neither Airbus nor Boeing plan to build a new plane the size of the A380. Currently, the largest planes offered by the two leading manufacturers are the Airbus A350-1000 and the upcoming 777-9, which both seat just over 400 people in a standard configuration.

However, deliveries of these planes have been delayed and Clark believes they are too small to replace the A380 in Emirates' fleet. "The math tells you that you need a big unit, much bigger than we're getting at the moment," he says.

"The biggest one will be the 777-9, whenever that comes to market, which in our configuration [will seat] 364 people against 484 on the A380s with our new premium economy. And it was 519 before, so you get where I'm coming from."

Clark has long lamented the fact that neither Airbus nor Boeing plan to build a new plane the size of the A380.

The "math" Clark refers to comes from the demand for air travel, which he says was growing by about 4.5% per year before the pandemic. Assuming that curve is recaptured, it would take just 10 to 15 years to see demand increase by half.

"Even with multiple 787s and A350s all busy flying around the world, I still don't get how you will pick up that growth curve. Supply will be suppressed, demand will continue to grow, and when that happens prices rise, it's inevitable."

"If you take the A380s out of the frame by the mid-2030s, how are you going to make it work? Do we see massive upgrades of airfields or new airfields?

Emirates currently plans on retiring its A380 fleet in the mid-2030s.

"At Heathrow, they can't even agree on the third runway. [Amsterdam's] Schiphol has just reduced the number of landings and takeoffs that they will allow. So, one wonders, how would this demand be accommodated?"

Clark's answer is a new plane as big as the A380, if not bigger, with modern features such as lightweight composite materials and more efficient engines.

"Is it possible to redesign a new A380? Yes. Is it possible to lighten the aircraft? Yes. When they brought this aircraft to market, composites weren't really [widespread]," says Clark.

One of the A380's biggest drawbacks is its four engines, which are inefficient to today's standards and fuel prices

"Imagine a composite wing and a predominantly composite fuselage. Imagine engines that are giving you a 20 to 25% improvement compared to what you get today. So you get a lighter aircraft, far more fuel-efficient, which ticks all the boxes as far as the environmentalists are concerned."

One of the A380's biggest drawbacks is its four engines, which are inefficient to today's standards and fuel prices. A new version would require an entirely new engine technology.

Clark says there are "very interesting studies" going on in this field, but he adds that most of the research over the last 20 years has been focused on narrow-body aircraft.

The most distinctive feature of Emirates' super jumbo will remain the legendary shower spa, which offers first-class passengers the luxury of a full-fledged shower at 35,000 feet.

An "open fan" engine, which appears to be a propeller but is actually a larger, unducted version of the fan found inside every modern jet engine, is one of the most promising new types of engines and could cut fuel consumption and emissions by as much as 20%. It will be trialled on an A380 test plane.

However, it's not meant for the aircraft: Brand new planes will need to be designed to fit these engines, and at least in the beginning, they will most likely be single-aisle aircraft, similar to the 737 and A320.

"We're trying to get everybody working on the big fans for the bigger aircraft as well. If you can get them to do what I think they could do in terms of fuel efficiency and power, then you have the makings of an airplane that would match or beat the economics of the [twin-engine aircraft] that we see today, by quite a long way."

An "open fan" engine is one of the most promising new types of engine and could cut fuel consumption and emissions by as much as 20%.

The problem with this plan is that just like the A380 wasn't popular with airlines, a similarly sized successor likely wouldn't be.

"Do I think that airlines will step up and sign up for this project? Doubtful at this stage. On the one hand, I'm very keen to take a good hard look at this, on the other I'm not optimistic that the stakeholders in the ecosystem are up for it."

"The airline industry is, rightly so, populated with conservative people, because they've lost their shirts -- this has been a seriously bad time for air travel. But now, things are starting to look a lot better, demand is back. So they can think hard about the future. Whether they've got the appetite for it, I don't know. I know we have it."

"I've spoken to Airbus more than once," he says. "I think they're beginning to take it a little bit more seriously, but at the moment they are concentrating on their single-aisle planes and the A350 line.

"I suspect people like [Airbus CEO] Guillaume Faury really would like to see something like this and recognizes what I could call the commercial imperative for it. But he is very much a technologist and will only do what his engineers and the technology will allow him to do."

Looking at the post-pandemic travel chaos that is causing cancelled flights, endless security lines and heaps of lost luggage, Clark isn't very optimistic. "I think you'll see a continuation of this until the summer of next year," he says.

The Emirates boss says he's amazed at the resilience of the travelling public for putting up with all of this, but they'll have to be patient for a while longer.

"We are not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination. And as more markets like China, Japan and Korea open up, they will exacerbate the problem, unless the likes of Heathrow, Frankfurt and Amsterdam get their act together and start getting people into place."

The Emirates boss says he's amazed at the resilience of the travelling public for putting up with all of this, but they'll have to be patient for a while longer.

"I see strong demand for the next year," he adds. "It's a patchy one, but my instinct is telling me the airline industry will be okay in a year and things will gradually become good when we get back into equilibrium -- middle of next year, or end of next year."

The airline also operates a sizable fleet of Boeing 777 aircraft.

Emirates currently plans on retiring its A380 fleet in the mid-2030s. The airline is hopeful that a new jumbo will come along before this, but it is preparing to operate without these jumbo assets.

ALSO READ - Emirates not so happy with its delayed B787-9 order, says don’t expect the delivery till 2024

The airline has ordered 50 smaller, more fuel-efficient A350 aircraft to fill the crucial role played by the A380, as well as the 777X. The airline also operates a sizable fleet of Boeing 777 aircraft. Unfortunately for the airline, neither the A350 nor the 777 can rival the capacity of the A380.

ALSO READ - Emirates threatens to cancel the Boeing 777X orders if delivery postponed beyond 2023

(With Inputs from CNN Travel)

LuftCar, an autonomous EVTOL manufacturer based out of Orlando, Florida, collaborates with Neurobotx and signs a paid partnership to expedite the process of bringing out its innovative, energy-efficient and multi-purpose modular autonomous air and road mobility (AARM) eVTOL to the market.

According to the company, LuftCars can be used during the daily commute and for regional travel (city to city) with both road and air travel capability while ?cargo vehicles can carry hot shot commodities, air inspection and surveys, with drivability into air inaccessible sites.

Luftcar

Apparently, they can also be used for military and healthcare applications- doctors can hop between hospitals and beat congestion while hospitals can own a fleet with a mix of LuftClinics and regular ambulances.

Representative | luftcar

Specs

eVTOL

MAX FLIGHT DISTANCE300 MilesMAX FLIGHT SPEED220 MPHMAX ALTITUDE4000 FeetLuftcar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW63FPZGEeE&t=135s

LuftCar can use the Neurobotx XR simulations for testing, development and validation of air and road transitions, evaluate human factors, communicate cargo, passenger and disaster relief use experience through digital twin, and develop exclusive defence mission training campaigns for the air force, navy and marine corp. LuftCar would also demonstrate hydrogen handling, safety and refuelling, and VTOL experiences to customers and stakeholders through the VR

LuftCar CEO Santh Sathya says

Santh Sathya | Twitter

Santh Sathya founded LuftCar - an autonomous air and road mobility eVTOL mobility company in March 2021 and had served as the Director of Strategy for L3Harris prior and was also the head of systems engineering at Boeing - Insitu drones, and led Model-Based Systems Engineering and digital twin development.

Representative | Luftcar

Commenting further on the partnership:

Neurobotx is thrilled to work with LuftCar and leverage our technology, marketing and business development abilities to bring it faster to market. On our platform, millions of users will be able to experience the patented LuftCar docking model, have their car take of and travel long distances, while generating much needed data for pilot training, regulatory approval, investor and client diligence. Our unique neuromorpjhic backend fits the energy efficiency demands for EVTOL to become fully hydrogen-based. Most importantly, we love working with colleagues from the Boeing family!CEO of Neurobotx, Dr. Diana Deca

Dr. Diana Deca | Robotics Planet

NEUROBOTX is pioneering the cognitive metaverse using neuromorphic AI. It is a team of some of the world's brightest minds in neuroscience, VR, AI and robotics building the ultimate cognitive metaverse.

Metapilot | Representative | neurobotx.ai

This is just one of the many partners we have onboarded on our Metapilot platform. Unlike industry competitors that just gather simulation data without much change from the 1980's, Metapilot is a fully immersive XR experience, with a neuromorphic backend, haptics, and based on my own doctoral research in 2xNobel laureate lab that discovered the brain's navigation system. Essentially, we are rebuilding the pilot brain inside the aircraft. And only 2 weeks after launch, we are in the top games on Steam, a platform that gets 700 new games per day. These are exciting times. And for LuftCar, we will simulate unique applications in governmental and commercial applications to show its unique features. We will also partner for discussions with investors, governmental and airline clients, as well as regulatory approval via our joint NASA partnerships.Dr. Deca adds on the LuftCar commercial partnership

By combining state-of-the-art simulation, haptics and spiking neural networks, the company is presenting us with the ultimate pilot experience while making fully autonomous flying taxis a reality.

Reportedly, Santh could highlight several advantages in the Neurobotx partnership that he could not find elsewhere. He added that he was excited to have the Neurobotx team fueling their growth with the latter having stellar backgrounds in neuroscience, computer vision and XR.

Moreover, LuftCar can use the VR simulations for testing, development and validation or air and road transitions, evaluate human factors, communicate cargo, passenger and disaster relief use experience through digital twin, develop exclusive defense mission training campaigns for air force, navy and marine corp. LuftCar would also demonstrate hydrogen handling, safety and refueling, VTOL experiences to customers and stakeholders through the VRSanth

The partnership is touted to be just the beginning of the cognitive metaverse designed to bridge the retro-futuristic dream of flying cars and the actual present.

Very recently, Luftcar had signed a memorandum of understanding with Bosch Aviation as a part of its efforts to develop vehicle prototypes. Bosch will develop BoP (balance of Plant) fuel cell components for proof-of-concept, with the aim to support LuftCar commercialization.

Luftcar

SOURCE(s)

COVER: Twitter

Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) surged over 5% on Thursday, August 11 ahead of the company reporting its fiscal year earnings report for the April-June quarter on Friday, August 12.

?1 lakh invested in HAL at the beginning of 2022 is now worth ?1.75 lakh. 

HAL is one of the world’s largest and oldest defence manufacturing companies, and its investors have gotten very rich this year. HAL’s rise could also benefit two other defence manufacturers, say analysts. The company’s large order book and interest in the Tejas LCA by six countries have driven the rally in its stock.

Defence indigenization has been one of the goals of the current Indian government, to reduce dependence on foreign countries. But a crucial aspect that gets relatively less airtime is defence exports – and it has made investors of Hindustan Aeronautics richer by 75% in 2022 alone. 

HAL is in talks with Egypt, Malaysia and Nigeria for defence exports that could amount to over $5.5 billion, with tenders for setting up manufacturing facilities for the Tejas Mk1A light combat aircraft, helicopters and maintenance of Malaysia’s Sukhoi fighter jets, among others. 

The company has achieved excellent performance in terms of turnover. 

The Indian government’s focus on increasing defence indigenization has also helped HAL in securing economies of scale, making its export offers more competitive. This, coupled with the high technical ratings of Tejas, has made it a key contender for bagging contracts from Egypt and Malaysia. 

According to the company’s latest financials, HAL’s current order book stands at ?82,000 crore – this is 3.3-times the company’s FY22 revenue. Further, it has a strong pipeline of ?1.24 lakh crore of manufacturing orders over the next three to four years, which will help the company deliver double-digit revenue growth, according to a report by ICICI Direct Research. 

Once rejected by the Indian Navy as “too heavy”, Tejas has been one of the success stories of India’s defence indigenization efforts. And now, according to the government, six countries are interested in HAL’s light combat aircraft. 

Shares of HAL were trading at 2,273 rupees, 5.03% higher than the previous close on BSE.

The Indian government said that the US, Australia and Indonesia have also expressed interest in the Tejas. HAL has already offered the twin-seater variant of the Tejas LCA to Malaysia in a deal worth $1.5 billion, in addition to maintenance of the Russian-origin Sukhoi 30 fighter jets.  

The company's last financial year earnings report notified that the current order book stands at Rs 82,000 crore. The defence company also expects to clock 6-7% revenue growth for FY23.

A Singapore court has dismissed Bharat Forge's case against Bombardier, two years after the Indian auto component giant dragged the Canadian plane maker to court over alleged faulty parts in an aircraft. Bharat Forge's claims were "hopeless, both factually and logically," said Judge Andre Maniam.

Bharat Forge's jet, a long-range Bombardier Global Express XRS, was given for a major maintenance shop visit to Bombardier Aviation Services (BASS) and was sent over to the facility of BASS, located at Seletar Airport in 2020. 

Judge Maniam additionally directed Bharat Forge to pay $10,000 to Bombardier. 

Indian auto component maker Bharat Forge has taken Canadian aircraft and train maker Bombardier’s Singapore unit to court over what it alleged as serious technical glitches in a retrofitted component in its business jet. 

The Singapore court docket judgment nevertheless stated Bharat Forge bought any such guarantee from Bombardier.

“Indeed, Bharat Forge expected the aircraft to be perfect (or “virtually to perfection”), but it did not pay for it. Instead, it contracted for BASS to perform a specified scope of work, on agreed terms and conditions. In so doing, Bharat Forge worked hard to negotiate and bring down the inspection cost,” stated Maniam within the judgement.

Bharat Forge's claims were "hopeless, both factually and logically," said Judge Andre Maniam. 

“At trial, Bharat Forge’s case fell apart – there was hardly anything keeping it together, to begin with. Undeterred, Bharat Forge persisted with its claims through closing submissions and reply closing submissions, in which it essentially ignored what had happened at trial, falling back on assertions in AEICs that had been recanted, or that were without merit,” stated the judgement.