AAV News in Brief 10 June 2021

Airport Dimensions partners with JPMorgan Chase on lounge brand: Airport Dimensions is  collaborating with JPMorgan Chase to bring a new airport lounge brand to customers, which is set to reimagine a core part of the journey and offer a new raft of experiences tailored to the needs of the discerning traveller. Called Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club, locations will be announced in select markets over time. This latest strategic partnership builds on Airport Dimensions’ recent successes in expanding its offers to enhance the airport journey for global travellers. Among these are the introduction of sleep pods and cabins through the acquisition of ONGROUND Hospitality and the Sleep Lounge brand sleep ’n fly in the Middle East, and this offer is set to be expanded into other key global travel markets shortly. Using the latest technologies to enhance physical experiences, the company has also invested in driving revenue growth for airports and increasing traveller satisfaction with the launch of e-commerce and passenger loyalty platform Connecta. Jettly acquires OnlineJetCharters.com: Jettly, a private jet charter technology company based in Canada with operations across the globe, has acquired OnlineJetCharters.com, which had been operated out of New York City. OnlineJetCharters.com was the online presence of a private jet charter brokerage specialising in cost-effective jet charters and helicopter charters worldwide. Jettly CEO Justin Crabbe says, “This transaction represents the first of a series of planned transactions whereby Jettly will seek to expand through the acquisition of local, traditional, and online charter brokerage businesses in the United States and abroad.” OnlineJetCharters.com was launched 21 years ago by Exclusive Charter Service. OnlineJetCharters.com has robust web traffic and is a mature, highly sought-after domain name making it a great addition to the Jettly group. OnlineJetCharters.com’s network consists of efficient light jets with seating up to seven through heavy luxury jets with seating up to 25. It has a network of aircraft ranging from turboprops, light jets, midsize jets, heavy jets, cargo jets, and helicopters. Through this acquisition, Jettly can now provide former customers of OnlineJetCharters.com with the same high-quality service Jettly customers have benefitted from since its inception in 2016. Etihad announces new routes: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, will launch seasonal flights to Greece’s most popular islands, Mykonos and Santorini, and the famous southern Spanish city of Malaga in Andalusia. Mykonos will operate between 8 July and 11 September 2021 and Santorini between 9 July and 12 September 2021. Both destinations will benefit from a twice weekly direct service on an Airbus A320. With a safe travel corridor established between the UAE and Greece, fully vaccinated individuals now have more opportunities to enjoy quarantine free travel. Travellers can enjoy Mykonos’ Mediterranean cuisine or admire Santorini’s unique architecture. Just over four hours from Abu Dhabi, Etihad’s new flights to the Greek islands complement the airline’s existing service to Athens. As Spain prepares to reopen to international vaccinated travellers from 7 June 2021, Etihad will launch new flights to Malaga, twice a week, between 9 July and 15 September 2021. Flights to Malaga will operate using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, offering Economy Space and Neighbour-free seating options. Liebherr cockpit static inverter for Airbus A320 and A330 families: Liebherr-Aerospace has been selected by Airbus to supply the cockpit static inverter for the Airbus A320 and A330 families. The agreement marks a historic milestone for the company: It is the first contract in the segment of aircraft systems ATA Chapter 24 – Electrical Systems – and opens Liebherr the door to deploy its know-how and latest stand-alone power electronics technologies in this high potential business sector. Two Liebherr companies have developed the cockpit static inverter: Liebherr-Elektronik GmbH, based in Lindau (Germany), Liebherr’s centre of excellence for electronics and a major player in its field, is responsible for all activities regarding the hardware, including production, and Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse SAS, Liebherr’s centre of excellence for air management systems in Toulouse (France), provides the inverter’s software.  Both companies have vast experience in power electronics and joined forces to offer Airbus the latest technology. Airbus gains first Flight Hour Services contract with JetBlue: Airbus has signed its first Flight Hour Services (FHS) contract with a North American customer. US-based airline JetBlue is acquiring long-term Airbus components maintenance services for its 70 A220 aircraft on order. The A220 started operations with JetBlue in April 2021. The maintenance-by-the-hour service contract includes material services with on-site-parts stock management, as well as access to Airbus’ pool of parts, engineering and repair services. JetBlue will be the third A220 airline operator to use Airbus’ FHS service. Over 150 A220s have been delivered to nine airlines operating routes in Asia, America, Europe and Africa, proving the great versatility of Airbus’ latest family member. This first FHS contract for Airbus in North America confirms the growing expansion of Airbus’ maintenance-by-the-hour solution to accompany traffic restart: over the last six months, eleven FHS contracts have been signed with operators worldwide. Airbus Pléiades Neo 3 satellite phones home: Four beautiful at high resolution images of Singapore taken by Airbus Pléiades Neo 3 satellite were recently release. The images of Singapore’s best loved locations are delivered at 30-cm native resolution providing an astonishing amount of detail. The Pléiades Neo 3 is part of the Airbus Pléiades Neo constellation, which will comprise four identical and very agile satellites, offering reactive tasking and intraday revisit of any point on Earth. Entirely funded, designed, manufactured, owned and operated by Airbus, each satellite will add half a million km² per day at 30cm native resolution. The successful acquisitions and delivery of these first images are the start of a new era for both commercial and government geospatial applications requiring a high level of accuracy and the ability to see fine details. The very high-resolution and geometrically consistent Pléiades Neo 3 imagery will provide analysts with a high level of detail, including more visibility of small objects, such as vehicles and road markings. This level of detection, recognition and identification of objects provides more ground truth for image analysts and improves reliability for machine learning capabilities. The new constellation will also provide a higher geolocation accuracy and deeper spectral band information, allowing more insights to be derived for various applications. SkySelect helps Magnetic MRO: SkySelect, an extended purchasing arm for aircraft material powered by robotic process automation, announced the extension of its contract with its strategic customer Magnetic MRO, a global provider of EASA, FAA and CAAC-certified Total Technical Care and Asset Management solutions. Together, the two companies are unlocking tangible cost savings in aircraft maintenance through a fully integrated supply chain of aircraft parts on top of world-class expertise and customer service. SkySelect acts as an extended purchasing arm to airlines and MROs. They empower people with technology and algorithms to do the work of matching real-time demand from buyers with supply. The process scales up and down automatically depending on demand. SkySelect integrates the supply chain in a way that eliminates manual effort by having less orders and suppliers to manage, while also driving tangible cost savings by working closely with buyers and sellers and constantly searching for the best options from the market. RAS upgrades Dassault 7X: RAS Group, an aircraft interior, exterior, and completions company, in synergy with JetMS, completed the renovation of a Dassault 7X interior. The renovation included enhancing the cabinetry by use of high gloss dark grained wood in combination with top-quality white aviation leather selected for the cabin seats. The project began with the complete visualisation of the new interior. RAS Business Development Manager, Roger Patron worked closely with the customer’s interior designer to narrow down the choice of materials and finishes expressed by the owner to enhance the cabin’s interior. “It was a process everyone at RAS was involved in. From the smallest inputs coming from our employees to a close collaboration with the owner’s interior designer, we strived to combine modern techniques and unique individuality into one piece of finely finished art. From the new look cabin cabinetry, crafted in high gloss dark grained wood, to the cheerful combination of white aviation-grade leather, trimmed with blue edge piping and set off by the vibrant blue carpet, the interior received a new lease of life in the form of carefully selected materials and forward-thinking design.” Skylo and Inmarsat work to enable narrowband IoT over satellite solution: Skylo, a satellite-based narrow-band (NB) IoT solution company, has announced that Inmarsat will provide the satellite capacity backbone to deliver its IoT solutions for connecting machines and sensors. The agreement pairs Inmarsat’s exceptionally reliable global satellite network with a complete, easy-to-use IoT solution that provides even the most remotely located application users with real-time, actionable insights; helping improve efficiencies, increase profits, improve sustainability, and save lives. The solution is available now in India through a partnership with in-country partner BSNL and expansion plans will be announced later this year. Emirates SkyCargo expands pharma cool chain: Emirates SkyCargo is further strengthening its temperature sensitive pharma and vaccine handling capabilities in Dubai with the extension of its fully automated cool room with 94 airline pallet positions at its EU GDP certified dedicated pharma facility at Dubai International Airport. The extended cool room will provide an additional 2600 square metres of temperature controlled environment (2-25 degrees Celsius) for the storage and handling of vaccines and other pharmaceuticals at Emirates SkyCargo’s purpose built GDP certified facility, reinforcing the carrier’s position as an industry leader for the air transportation of pharmaceuticals and providing additional capacity at its Dubai hub to meet the growing demand for transportation of COVID-19 vaccines. The new extension can hold an estimated 60-90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines at one time. JetClub Secures AOC from Malta: Newly launched business aviation fractional ownership brand, JetClub has been awarded its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) by Transport Malta Civil Aviation Directorate and can now begin fractional and charter passenger flights. JetClub CEO and Founder Vishal Hiremath said, “Over the past 12 months, we have been preparing to open JetClub in Europe. The most important part of this process is satisfying stringent safety standards of a commercial Air operating certificate (AOC). Receiving an AOC is a testament that we as an operator have met and exceeded the exceptionally high operating standards of the Maltese and EU Authorities.  As meeting such high standards is extremely challenging, receiving an AOC is an important milestone for JetClub.” JetClub, along with its sister company in the US, Jet It, are the world’s largest operator of the HondaJet. The company launched in Europe after two years of rapid expansion in the US. JetClub seeks to meet the needs of businesses and individuals that are looking for a more efficient, lower cost, and transparent approach to owning or chartering an aircraft. JetClub is based upon a fractional ownership business model, with a hybrid charter option for those not ready to buy. 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