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7. engine manuFacTurers’ eFFicienT eFForTs For greener skies
Chapter 3
From the Worst to the Strongest Performance, Air Cargo’s Upswing Story
Global air cargo markets for June 2021 displayed a 9.9 per cent improvement on pre-COVID-19 performance, the strongest first half performance since 2017. After the worst year for air cargo demand, 2020, the cargo boom in 2021 has been a display of resilience. As e-commerce expansions continue and economic condition improve, the air cargo boom is likely to establish a transitional position in the industry.
By Ayushee ChAudhAry
Air cargo witnessed its strongest first half performance this year. Data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for global air cargo markets for June displayed a 9.9 per cent improvement on pre-COVID-19 performance. “This pushed first half-year air cargo growth to eight per cent, its strongest first half performance since 2017 when the industry posted 10.2 per cent year-on-year growth,” IATA noted.
Last year as the novel coronavirus grabbed the world, air cargo facilities came out to be the most resilient, especially with the medical cargo services, that were utilised by governments to transport the equipment, medicines, vaccines, etc internationally as well as within the country. As the demand increased, commercial airlines also converted their passenger planes to freighters.
This June, the grounding of passenger aircraft constrained the overall capacity at 10.8 per cent below pre-COVID-19 levels. Belly capacity was down 38.9 per cent on June 2019 levels, partially offset by a 29.7 per cent increase in dedicated freighter capacity, IATA noted.
2020, the worst for air cargo demand: iata
Last year pretty much like the rest of the industry, air cargo sector also had a hard blow but eventually picked up in a remarkable manner. IATA observed 2020 as the worst year for air cargo demand noting the decrease in demand by 10.6 per cent in 2020, compared to 2019. This was the largest drop in yearon-year demand since IATA started to monitor to read the complete article cargo performance in 1990. Global capacity, shrank by 23.3 per cent in 2020 (-24.1 per cent for internaget Your copY now! The first halfyear air cargo growth went to 8 per cent in June 2021, its strongest first half performance since 2017 when the industry posted 10.2 per cent year-onyear growth: IATA
Chapter 4
Re-structuring the Aviation Industry
Innovation has always been an important pillar of aviation sector, however, the pandemic has given a strong push to innovate in ways not thought of before keeping hygiene as a priority. Contactless solutions, digital health passports, ultraviolet autonomous cleaning, biometrics have advanced the industry years ahead.
By Ayushee ChAudhAry
For some time now, aviation was seeing a constant growth with more and more players entering the industry, more aircraft being added in the fleet, and more people affording flight tickets. However, even though new designs were coming up, the pandemic has caused a disruption in the system that has forced the industry to pace up and redesign with innovation, advancement and precaution.
Many new trends have been witnessed in the past year as the industry attempts to prove its resilience, and many more trends await ahead as the aviation industry moves towards recovery with a surge in technology, design advancements, and secured behavior. Contactless solutions, digital health passports, ultraviolet autonomous cleaning, here are some trends and technologies that are restructuring the aviation industry.
ContaCtless teChnology
Amid the various trends, the most common but the most significant one has been the contactless travel experience, given the norms that the coronavirus pandemic brought along. As the basic characteristic of the virus has forced us to maintain social distancing, the passengers are extremely conscious about the countless touch points that they constantly encounter often without noting while they travel. Touchless travel has to become standard at most airports through the use of biometric technology given the current scenario and passengers should expect temperature screening and reduced in-flight services to be the new norm. There shall be a clear focus on the importance of digital solutions to boost confidence and safety, by reducing interactions throughout the journey.
The touchless technology is speeding up at the airports in the forms of contactless check-in and security, and further more processes moving out of airport infrastructure into the digital world, thereby reducing the number of contact points in the airport. Combining thermal imaging with video analytics and AI techniques is also being explored to have a robust system that can identify individuals, their body temperature, whether or not they are wearing masks, their travel history, etc.
The contactless commute trend has remained
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Biometrics usage is surging with contactless kiosks to automate the check-in process, touchless elevator panel technology, smart tunnels, etc being deployed
Chapter 5
Supersonic 2.0, Will They Come?
By BYRON BOHLMAN
If you lived near London Heathrow Airport until 2003, you knew the familiar loud engine rumble shortly after 10:30 AM meant that flight BA 001 had departed for New York on time. The noise was unmistakably that of the Concorde. Before the end of this decade, supersonic passenger flights may resume, but without the signature blast from those old-generation Rolls-Royce Olympus 593 engines.
Can a new generation of faster-than-the-speedof-sound airplanes once again ply the skies of the world? Two American-based manufacturers, Boom Supersonic and Spike Aerospace, are betting on it.
High development costs, large capital requirements, and the current economic environment proved too much for Aerion, a third competitor from Nevada, USA. The company cancelled its AS2 programme and shut down in May 2021. Now, the two remaining manufacturers are hoping to reintroduce supersonic travel and are targeting different market segments.
Two Cups of Coffee
I had heard that Concorde’s cabin was narrow so it was no surprise that it felt a little cramped in seat 2C. Legroom on the 100-seat jet wasn’t particularly generous. The minimalist gray décor was in keeping with the British Airways corporate identity. Yet the magic started the minute BA 002 lifted off from New York JFK Airport for the 3-hour and 30-minute hop to London. Watching the digital speed on the bulkhead display ratch up to Mach 2.0 was both thrilling and perplexing. It certainly never felt like we were hurtling through the edge of the stratosphere at 1,350 miles per hour. Supersonic speed was imperceptible.
My seat mate at the window was a tobacco industry lawyer on his way to Dublin. After exchanging brief pleasantries, he picked up a black pen and buried his nose in a stack of papers the size of a New York City telephone book, looking up occasionally to nurse two cups of black coffee. That was his only intake for the entire flight.
He was the quintessential Concorde customer. His seat was his office. His flight, a time saver. The ticket surely paid by his employer. He represented the type of passenger, today’s aircraft manufacturers believe will return to supersonic travel. They’ve already proven to the airliners that if you build it, they will come.
The Big Bang Theory MeeTs The
LiTTLe ThuMp Theory The laws of aerodynamics haven’t changed, they are to read the complete article simply better applied. Without getting overly technical, aircraft geometry creates a large wave drag comget Your copY now! Today’s supersonic jet manufacturers have refined their designs to reduce wave drag. The reduction is pivotal to winning regulatory approval to operate supersonic aircraft over land.
Chapter 6
Supersonic Airliners on the Horizon
By Joseph NoroNha
Seventeen years – that is how long commercial aviation has been stuck in the subsonic flight regime after British Airways ended Concorde flights in October 2003. In a world obsessed with speed and timesaving, that is remarkable. After all, the prospect of flying from London to New York in three and a quarter hours instead of the current seven hours or from San Francisco to Tokyo in five and a half hours instead of 11, would strongly appeal to most travellers.
That is why several companies are racing to get their supersonic jets to the market. These include Boom Supersonic’s Overture Mach 2.2 airliner and Spike Aerospace whose S-512 Mach 1.6 aircraft has both Business Jet and commercial possibilities. And in August 2020, Virgin Galactic announced plans to collaborate with Rolls-Royce to build a Mach 3 airliner. In fact, although the aviation industry has been severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the nascent field of high-speed civil aviation is one area that is recording noteworthy progress. But can the supersonic hopefuls overcome the stiff challenges they face?
BAN THE BOOM
Concorde entered commercial service simultaneously with Air France and British Airways on January 21, 1976. However, it was soon slapped with stiff operational restrictions that forced it to stay subsonic overland. Many countries completely prohibit supersonic passenger overflights because of the booms they generate. But over the last decade or two, aerodynamic shaping technology has succeeded in making sonic booms more benign. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are reviewing the restrictions placed on civilian supersonic planes. In January this year, the FAA issued a “final rule” to facilitate the safe development of such aircraft. Once the review is completed, by 2025, some restrictions will probably be eased. The FAA’s decision will likely be based in part on NASA’s Mach 1.4 X-59 Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) project. The Lockheed Martin X-59 aims to prove that it can operate generating only a 75 Perceived Level decibel (PLdB) “thump” on the ground – as loud as closing a car door. It has a long skinny fuselage so as to spread the shockwaves out and reduce their impact earthwards. It also has most of its external features above to make the shockwaves emanate upwards, not downwards. Further, an “aft deck” under the engine nozzle prevents
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The technological problems of supersonic airliners can probably be resolved fairly soon
