NZ’s Sounds Air Signs LOI for Battery Powered E-19 Aircraft
New Zealand regional airline Sounds Air aims to offer zero-emission flights using Heart Aerospace’s new ES-19 battery-powered aircraft. The airline is the first in Asia-Pacific to sign a letter of…
Thailand’s Betong Airport to Open in December
A new regional airport is on track to open in southern Thailand’s Yala province as early as December, as part of long-standing plans to boost economic development in the country’s…
Tokyo Govt Also Evaluating ATR For Outer Island Service
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is also evaluating the ATR 42-600S aircraft for a new service between Tokyo and the Ogasawara Islands. It has been widely reported that the Leonardo AW609…
Dash 8-400 Air Tanker To Be Used To Fight Fires In Australia
A De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 air tanker has arrived in Queensland, Australia on contract with the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service (QFES) for the upcoming bushfire season. The Dash…
MagniX Spear-heading Technological Shift in Aviation
MagniX expects to complete certification of its electric-powered de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver and Cessna Grand Caravan by early-2022, with certification of a larger 2MW electric motor for Universal Hydrogen’s…
Fly Lankan Asia To Operate Boeing 737-200s and BAe 146s
Airline start-up Fly Lankan Asia has applied for an air operator’s certificate (AOC) and plans to operate domestic and international scheduled flights. Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) director…
Universal Hydrogen Partners MagniX on Dash 8-300, ATR 42 Retrofit
Hydrogen fuel logistics start-up Universal Hydrogen is partnering electric propulsion systems manufacturer MagniX to develop a hydrogen-electric retrofit for 40-seat turboprops. In MagniX’s announcement, it says it will provide 2MW…
Best on the Web | September 2020
Our round-up of Asia-Pacific regional aviation news this month includes interesting stories on Tonga’s Real Tonga, Taiwan’s Mandarin Airlines, Nepal Airlines, India’s Flybig and the Philippines’ Cebu Pacific. Tonga Domestic…
QantasLink to Boost Regional Services as Virgin Australia Cuts Back
QantasLink is boosting its regional services to maintain connectivity with regional towns and cities, following Virgin Australia’s announcement that it will exit nine domestic routes. The airline says it will…
ZeroAvia Adds Hydrogen-Electric Ground Operations Vehicle
UK-based startup ZeroAvia is adding hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles in its next step to develop zero-emission hydrogen ground infrastructure for its hydrogen-electric aircraft. The addition of the Toyota Mirai fuel-cell ground…
Virgin Australia Axes Regional Routes Following ATR Phase-Out
Under the new ownership of US-based Bain Capital, Virgin Australia will fly a significantly smaller domestic network using an all-Boeing 737 fleet. Virgin Australia says in a statement that it…
India’s SpiceJet Aims To Launch Seaplane Services End-October
Low-cost carrier SpiceJet plans to begin commercial operations of mainland India’s first seaplane service on 31 October. A SpiceJet official who did not want to be named confirmed to Smart…