Indian Government decides minimum reserve price for Air India sale

Ryanair to reopen base at ORK

Ryanair has announced an investment of $200m in Ireland’s Cork Airport (ORK), reopening its two-aircraft base at the airport and restoring all pre-Covid-19 flights from the third quarter of 2022.

With this investment, the Irish carrier will bring 20 routes to ORK, including new services to Birmingham and Edinburgh that were operated by Stobart Air before its recent collapse.

For the past several months, Cork Airport and the DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) have been working with Ryanair to extend the traffic recovery scheme until October next year to incentivise Ryanair’s traffic to return to pre-pandemic levels.

The scheme’s extension is said to secure 60 Ryanair jobs.

FAA to deploy Nasa tech

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will deploy a new Nasa technology at busy US hub airports, which can calculate gate pushbacks to help each aircraft roll directly to the runway and take off.

The testing of the new software capability has been completed.

The new Nasa technology is said to help minimise taxi time and fuel burn, which would result in reducing carbon emission and support the government’s goal to build a sustainable aviation system.

The government agency plans to roll out this new software across 27 airports in the country.

Developed by Nasa, the software was tested for around four years and will now be part of the FAA Terminal Flight Data Manager (TFDM) programme.

TotalEnergies and Safran join forces in aviation decarbonisation drive

French companies TotalEnergies and Safran have reached a strategic alliance to develop technical and commercial solutions for decarbonising the aviation sector.

Under this agreement, the two firms will utilise their knowledge to develop and deploy sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and create an informed understanding of the overall value chain and use cases.

The initiative will support TotalEnergies and Safran’s objective to reach net-zero CO₂ emissions by 2050 and fast-track the reduction of carbon emissions in the aviation industry.

The partnership between the two companies will primarily focus on research, technology and innovation, as well as the supply of SAF produced in France by TotalEnergies to decarbonise Safran’s aeroplane and helicopter engine tests in France.

China’s Huawei introduces new Airport Cloud-Network Solution

Chinese technology company Huawei has introduced the latest Airport Cloud-Network Solution amid increased focus on the digital transformation of airports.

The solution is designed to help airports improve operational efficiency, as well as enhance security and passenger experience.

Particularly, Airport Cloud-Network Solution includes airport terminal access network, backbone network, cloud data centre network and integrated network security.

According to the company, the solution leverages AirEngine Wi-Fi 6 to create a gigabit wireless access network across the airport terminal building for continuous coverage. The system also eliminates blind spots and increases coverage distance by 20%.

The solution uses IPv6+ technology to develop a centralised backbone network for multiple services. This enables the backbone network to completely accommodate various services such as security checks, retail and ground handling.

British Airways drops plans for low-cost unit at LGW

British Airways has reportedly dropped its previous plans for setting up a new low-cost unit at Gatwick Airport (LGW) in London, UK.

The decision was taken after the pilots refused to support the plan, reported The Guardian.

The airline suspended most of its operations from LGW at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Recently, British Airways said that it intends to resume short-haul operations with a revised arrangement that would reduce its costs.

However, pilots’ union Balpa failed to secure the support of its members for the deal.

The carrier said that now it will suspend short-haul services at LGW. However, domestic services connecting to its long-haul trips will continue.

Separately, Balpa’s acting general secretary Martin Chalk expressed his disappointment for failing to reach an agreement.