Aviation News in Brief 2 October 2020

GA Telesis, Honeywell in distribution deal: GA Telesis has teamed with Honeywell and entered into a distribution agreement to act as a global distributor for their UV Aircraft Cabin Cleaning system. This partnership is another step in the development of GA Telesis’ Tarmac Solutions Group’s ability to offer a fully comprehensive Specialised Tooling and Ground Support Equipment solution for airlines around the world. This cabin system utilises Ultraviolet (UV) light to quickly traverse an aircraft cabin, galleys and lavatories in less than 10 minutes.  In addition to measures already being taken by airlines in flight like the use of cabin air exchange and HEPA filters, this new system, when properly applied, reduces certain viruses and bacteria on airplane cabin surfaces and can assist in creating a cleaner environment for passengers and crew after the airplane lands and before each flight. The UV cabin cleaning system is intended to help instil confidence to business and leisure travellers as air traffic continues to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. Vietjet inaugurates international commercial flights: Vietjet on Wednesday it had completed two regular commercial flights linking Vietnam and South Korea following a long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The flight VJ962 from Hanoi and the flight VJ862 from Ho Chi Minh City both landed at Incheon International Airport. The airline will also launch its return regular flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Seoul from 7 October with one flight every Wednesday. All passengers flying between Vietnam and South Korea must submit their proof of a negative COVID-19 test obtained within three days prior to boarding their flights as well as abiding by compulsory quarantine requirements of the local authorities. As regulated by the South Korean government, flyers from Vietnam to South Korea have to fill in all regulated forms before boarding their flight as well as abiding by compulsory quarantine requirements by the local authorities. Flyers to Vietnam from South Korea can opt to pay for their quarantine at chosen hotel/accommodation facilities. Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation receives first five-bladed Airbus H145: Airbus Helicopters has delivered the first five-bladed H145 to the Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation. This new version of its H145 light twin-engine helicopter brings an innovative five-bladed rotor to the multi-mission helicopter, increasing the useful load by 150 kg while delivering new levels of comfort, simplicity, and connectivity. It received certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in June and is now ready to take on a wide variety of missions. The Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, founded by Norwegian doctor Jens Moe in 1978, is the mother company and owner of the Norwegian Air Ambulance. It brought HEMS to Norway by opening a first base near Oslo, using a BO105 helicopter rented from Germany. Today, Norwegian Air Ambulance operates all 13 HEMS bases in Norway and all four bases in Denmark using a 100 percent Helionix-equipped fleet of H135s and H145s. This helicopter is dedicated to support the Foundations important work to improve the HEMS operations. Certification by the Federal Aviation Administration is under review and expected soon. The certification for the military version of the five-bladed H145 will be granted in 2021. The H145 is developed jointly with Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The first delivery by the Japanese cooperation partner is scheduled for early next year. Emirates opts for CEFA flight data animation software: Emirates has chosen the CEFA FAS to visualise flights using extensive flight data to improve on flight safety standards and to create animations for flight crew training purposes. CEFA FAS animation software can process a variety of complex forms of recorded flight data and information and display it dynamically and synthetically in a form that can be understood and shared by a wide audience within the aviation industry. Collins Aerospace passes development milestone for Iridium Certus: Iridium Communications’ partner, Collins Aerospace, continues to make progress in bringing its new Iridium Certus aviation terminal to market. The company passed a major development milestone and is the first among Iridium Certus aviation partners to connect an aviation-grade antenna, in this case an Active Low-Gain Antenna (ALGA), to the Iridium constellation. Collins Aerospace’s Iridium Certus solution is designed to meet the connectivity needs of commercial, business and government aircraft. The service will enable a variety of capabilities for cockpit safety, graphical weather, electronic flight bags, enhanced aircraft reporting, and other operational aircraft services for airline and government customers. It will offer this through small form factor antennas currently in testing, and terminals that are ideal for operators of smaller aircraft requiring internet connectivity. Collins Aerospace was announced as an Iridium service provider for the aviation industry in 2018, and continues to make progress in its solution to enable a faster, more reliable SATCOM experience. Enabled by Iridium’s upgraded constellation, Iridium Certus is a multi-service communications platform that offers the highest speed L-band connectivity and only truly global mobile satellite service on the market. Liebherr overhauls landing gears for Austral: Liebherr-Aerospace has been selected by Austral Líneas Aereas to overhaul the landing gears of the airline’s Embraer E-Jet E190 fleet. It is the first major contract for Liebherr in Argentina. The overhaul activities have already started in July 2020 and are performed by Liebherr-Aerospace’s customer service facility in Saline, Michigan. The complete landing gear system for the E-Jet E1 family (E170/E175/E190/E195) has been developed, manufactured and certified by OEM Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH, Lindenberg (Germany), Liebherr’s centre of competence for flight controls, landing gear systems, gears, gearboxes as well as electronics. Third Cessna SkyCourier test aircraft joins flight test programme: The Cessna SkyCourier turboprop development programme has achieved another significant milestone as the third and final flight test aircraft (P2) successfully completed its first flight on 28 September. This maiden flight for the high-wing, large utility aircraft comes on the heels of the second test article (P1) completing its initial flight in August 2020. The P2 aircraft is the second airframe configured in the passenger variant  and it will join two other aircraft in the flight test certification program, which to date have already accumulated 150 flight hours. The P2 and prototype aircraft both have the passenger configuration, including windows and escape hatches, while the P1 aircraft, which completed its first flight in August, is configured in the freighter configuration. GE Aviation selected by AVX for airborne and ground systems ops: GE Aviation was selected by AVX Aircraft Company to provide a key airborne and ground systems component asset management system for the US Army Rotorcraft Automated Component Tracking (RACT) program. GE Aviation’s solution will report the planned and unplanned movement of tracked assets from local aviation units to ensure better maintenance and logistics insights across the fleet, as well as accurate operational availability for individual aircraft. This is part of a US Army Science & Technology programme with the purpose of demonstrating a system that will allow aviation units in the field to better manage maintenance records in conjunction with higher level Army Maintenance & Logistics structures. The RACT programme is intended to explore new methods of tracking key components, including their usage, as well as overall aircraft health state. This will serve to aid better fleet management decisions and contributes to the US Army’s vision of zero-maintenance and minimisation of forward operating sustainment needs. Citilink Partners with Dohop: Jakarta-based low-cost airline, Citilink, has joined forces with Icelandic technology provider Dohop to provide international and domestic interline connections in Indonesia and beyond. The new platform will allow Citilink to widen its offering by combining Citilink flights with flights of selected partner airlines, opening new travel opportunities for its customers. By offering this new service, Citilink will enable the travelling public in Indonesia to enjoy more flight options and a wider range of destinations. Flights from various airlines can easily be combined in a single booking, giving travellers more choice and freedom to explore Indonesia and the world.  Dohop is currently working with Citilink to customise its solution for the Indonesian market and plans to launch the new service later this year. 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