We're entering the penultimate week of January 2022 with yet another Weekly Aviation News Roundup.
Here we list for our audience the top 10 aviation topics of the last seven days, as well as the articles and videos published in the week. Let's check in the paragraphs below all the subjects that had the most repercussions in the sector.
For this post, we consider the articles published between the period of January 15th to 21st, exactly seven days, and excluding the day before the publication of the summary, which is always on Sundays here at the Aeroflap Portal.
1.Formula 1 will no longer have presentations with military planes before the races
Seeking to become more and more ecological and less polluting, the F1 changed the rules for aerial presentations before their races, banning the use of military aircraft.
According to information from Portal RacingNews365, Formula 1 sent an email to the promoters responsible for carrying out the stages, in which the exhibitions only with the use of military planes will no longer be allowed.
On the other hand, it will still be possible to see presentations using civil or airline planes before the races, but for that, it will be necessary to use sustainable fuel (SAF) during the presentation flights.
Although the decision has received much criticism, Formula 1's decision to ban the use of military aircraft during its events is due to the fact that the entity is concerned that such aerial displays become a tool for demonstrating military force.
Now, with the new rules, it will still be possible to see the presentation of iconic aircraft such as the 787 of Etihad Airways, but without the Al Fursan squadron at the Abu Dhabi GP, as well as the low of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner of Gulf Air at the GP of Bahrain, thanks to the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
2. A Royal Air Force C-17 freighter landed in Porto Alegre
A Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) landed last Friday afternoon (21), in Porto Alegre (RS). The military freighter, registration ZZ175, made a technical stopover and should depart for the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) on Saturday morning (22).
On the occasion, the British jet took off from Dakar, Senegal, and made a 7:36 flight until arriving in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, where it touched down on runway 11 at Salgado Filho Airport (SBPA) at 13:48 pm, already awaited by spotters and aviation enthusiasts. The aircraft taxied to a position next to the old Terminal 2, now deactivated.
The C-17 is making a technical stopover in Brazil, with Mount Pleasant Air Force Base (EGYP), in the Falklands, as its final destination. The C-17 took off from SBPA to EGYP at yesterday morning (22).
The RAF currently has a fleet of eight C-17A freighters, all operated by 99 Squadron from RAF Brize Norton. The first British C-17 was received in May 2001. Brize Norton is the RAF's largest base and is also home to A400M Atlas, C-130 Hercules and A330 MRTT Voyager aircraft.
C-17s are also being deployed in the arms transport to Ukraine amid tensions with Russia.
3. Two Itapemirim aircraft have already left Brazil
Two aircraft from Itapemirim We had already left Brazil for Arizona, in the United States. However, the first aircraft to carry out the transfer flight was the PS-ITA last Tuesday (18), taking off from Galeão International Airport.
Besides the PS-ITA, another A320 registration PS-SFC also left Brazil the following day (19) with the same destination. Both aircraft are owned by DCAL 2 Leasing Limited and will perform a “transfer to a base where the aircraft will be stored” Tucson International Airport, in the United States.
Two more Itapemirim aircraft will also leave Brazil:
In addition to the PS-ITA and PS-SFC, two other aircraft ed PS-SPJ and PS-TCS will also leave Brazil soon. This time, the aircraft will head to the Blytheville airport, located in the state of Arkansas, in the United States. The flights were requested by the lessor UMB Bank, owner of the aircraft.
4. Rolls-Royce now holds the record for the fastest electric plane in the world
Dubbed the 'Spirit of Innovation', the all-electric aircraft developed by Rolls-Royce lived up to its name, having set two newly confirmed world records.
The first record broken took place on November 16, 2021, when the aircraft reached a top speed of 555,9 km/h (345,4 mph) over three kilometers, beating the previous record of 213,04 km/h (132 mph).
In addition, the aircraft broke a second record by reaching a speed of 523,1 km/h (330 mph) over 15 kilometers, breaking the previous record of 292,8 km/h.
Now, both records have been officially verified by Fedération Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), the World Air Sports Federation, which controls and certifies the world's aeronautical and astronaut registries.
With the new brands, Rolls-Royce's electric aircraft is still chasing a record-breaking third.
The third record-breaking attempt concerns the fastest ascent of an electric aircraft to 3.000 m, with the current mark of 202 seconds. To break the mark, the 'Spirit of Innovation' needed only 60 seconds, however, the new mark achieved will still go through the verification process.
5. Embraer will deliver eight more planes to the Nigerian Air Peace in 2022
Embraer's production line in São José dos Campos will be quite busy this year. At the same time as Azul plans to resume the delivery of new E195-E2s in June, Air Peace stated which plans to bring forward its expansion.
As a result, the Nigerian airline plans to take delivery of eight Embraer E195-E2 aircraft this year alone, in addition to more Airbus A320 aircraft. The new aircraft from the Brazilian manufacturer will help Air Peace in its regional and domestic expansion in Nigeria and West Africa.
6. Airbus cancels order from Qatar Airways for 50 A321s
In yet another stalemate for Qatar Airways over problems in the painting of its A350XWB planes, Airbus decided to cancel the order for 50 Airbus A321neo planes from the Arab company.
“We confirm that we have terminated the contract for 50 A321s with Qatar Airways in accordance with our rights”, said an Airbus spokesman.
Qatar Airways currently has 30 orders for the competitor of the A320neo family, the Boeing 737 MAX. The company is also suing Airbus with a view to obtaining damages of US$ 600 million, for the ground time of its A350XWB planes.
In early December, the Airbus issued a statement disputing Qatar Airways' claims, and regretted the need to defend its position and reputation and that all solutions given to Qatar Airways were rejected by the customer without legitimate justification, but who seeks constructive dialogue to resolve the matter.
In addition, the Gulf airline alleges operational risks with the affected aircraft, with 21 units of the A350 not flying due to corrosion problems in a sublayer of the anti-ray protection.
The Arab company did not comment on the cancellation of orders. Qatar Airways currently operates 22 A320ceo (old generation) and 6 A321ceo aircraft.
7. 5G: FAA includes Boeing 787 and some Embraer aircraft in list of approved aircraft
Last week, the Federal Aviation istration of the USA announced a list of planes authorized to take off and land with low visibility in areas where there are installed 5G network points near airports.
With that, the FAA updated the list of aircraft approved in the US, now the list includes the Boeing 787 and Embraer planes, check out the updated list of each manufacturer:
Airbus: A300, A310, A319, A320, A321, A330, A340, A350 and A380.
Boeing: 717, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, 787, MD-10 and 11.
Embraer: ERJ-170 and E190.
Still out of the list are aircraft such as the Airbus A220, Boeing 727 and Bombardier aircraft that have not been authorized so far. With the increase in the list, the percentage of aircraft approved in the US reached 78%.
The FAA also said that some altimeters will be very susceptible to interference from the 5G network, and will be prohibited from performing low visibility landings at airports that are close to network facilities.
US operators have agreed that they will postpone the activation of the 5G network in telecom towers near the country's main airports. According to Reuters, one of the operators will fail to activate 500 towers, equivalent to just under 10% of what was planned by the company.
The FAA continues to work with carriers to come up with a solution to the issue. In the coming days, the North American aviation body intends to approve the other remaining planes.
8. Guarulhos Airport records 188 planes taking off and landing in 2021
GRU Airport, the concessionaire that manages São Paulo International Airport, in Guarulhos, ed in December 2021 the movement of around 3,11 million engers.
Thus, there was a growth of 36,4% in the comparison of the movement ed in 2020. When compared with 2019, the pre-pandemic year, there was a decrease of 23,6%. In relation to the consolidated (from January to December) of 2021, there is an increase of 18,9% compared to the previous year; and 43,8% decrease compared to 2019.
In December 2021, around 3,11 million engers were at the airport. During this period, 21.395 landings and takeoffs (domestic and international) were recorded. From the consolidated 2021 (January to December), GRU Airport recorded around 24,16 million engers.
In total, 188.573 landings and takeoffs (domestic and international) were recorded.
9. Federal Government opens working group to discuss Santos Dumont Airport concession
The Minister of Infrastructure, Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, highlighted last Wednesday (19) the objective of the Federal Government with the entire process of airport concessions carried out since 2019: investment and quality of service to the .
The declaration took place at the opening meeting of the working group created to discuss the invitation to bid for Santos Dumont Airport, in Rio de Janeiro.
Representatives appointed by the Ministry of Infrastructure, the government of Rio de Janeiro and the Brazilian Navy are part of the working group.
The Group of Consultants at Airports (GCA) and the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) will provide technical to the discussions, which will help in preparing the final report. The document should be released on February 17.
As there are questions raised by the productive sector of Rio de Janeiro about the complementarity of Galeão and Santos Dumont airports, the creation of the working group will help to improve the modeling of the seventh round of airport concessions.
The Federal Government values dialogue and understanding between all parties to reach the best possible result.
10. LATAM starts offering free WhatsApp on 56 aircraft in Brazil
As of January 25th, LATAM customers will be able to send and receive text messages via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and iMessage for free during the flight.
Initially, the facility will be available on 56 aircraft from the Airbus A320 family that fly within Brazil and flights from the country to other destinations in South America.
LATAM intends to take the service to other aircraft in its fleet and reinforces that the free package is only valid for text messages – that is, it does not the transfer of photos, videos or other files.
To access the service, customers must put their mobile device in airplane mode, connect it to the LATAM Play Wi-Fi network, type in latamplay.com in their browser and select the free text message package.
If the customer prefers, there are other paid packages for browsing or streaming. Upon ing the LATAM Play network, customers also have free access to more than 700 hours of content including movies, documentaries, series and music. Check out more details in this video..
Articles and Special Publications
Why is 5G a concern for planes in the US but not in Brazil?
The rollout of 5G connectivity to US cell phones is causing a major problem for the FAA, airlines and even engers. As a result, many airlines expressed concerns when operating in the United States with the 5G network, more specifically in Band C, and how it was implemented by the FCC.
In this article you will understand why the same problem is not occurring in Brazil, and what is its impact on operations in the United States.
Click Here and check it out in the article by our editor Pedro Viana, published this week.
OUR VIDEOS OF THE WEEK
In the first video, we interview Rafael Lemos, who works at FlyBSB. He told us the paths to become a flight attendant. In addition, he tells us about the course content and explained to us what the requirements of the airlines are.
Have you ever stopped to think what makes an airline choose a certain type of aircraft? Some airlines operate a single type of aircraft. Others, with different types.
Check out more details of this interesting decision-making process within an airline below:
Abstract in collaboration with the editors Gabriel Centeno, Gabriel Melo, Gabriel Benevides and Pedro Viana.
