tirsdag 31. mars 2020

F-35 Block 4 upgrade funker godt i SEAD rollen - AW&ST

Middle East SAM Discovery Highlights F-35’S Evolving Role

Steve Trimble March 09, 2020

As a series of Block 4 upgrades are set to elevate the Lockheed Martin F-35’s profile for the counter air-defense mission, a top program official shared an operational anecdote highlighting the aircraft’s latent capability against surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems.

Twelve F-35As deployed last year to the Middle East to support operations against the Islamic State group (ISIS), logging 150 weapons employed during about 7,300 hr. flown on 1,300 combat sorties, said Brig. Gen. David Abba, director of the Air Force’s F-35 integration office, speaking at the Mitchell Institute March 9. “The numbers were pretty remarkable,” Abba said.

Although ISIS forces posed little threat to the F-35A, the deployment provided opportunities for the stealthy fighter to demonstrate capabilities against a more sophisticated opponent.

Abba described an operational scenario that involved a mobile SAM system. The U.S. intelligence community normally tracks the locations of such systems as closely as possible, but in this case the mobile SAM had not been seen “in a while,” he said.

Meanwhile, two F-35As were en route to perform an unrelated mission when an indication of the missing, mobile SAM appeared on their cockpit displays, Abba said. The inference was that the F-35’s onboard sensors, such as the BAE Systems ASQ-239 electronic-warfare suite, detected and identified the threat. The pilots used the data to cue the radar-mapping mode of the F-35’s Northrop Grumman APG-81 active electronically scanned array radar to establish “targetable” coordinates for the SAM.

“We didn’t end up employing ordnance against that [threat], but it was fed back into the [command-and-control] structures in the intelligence community,” Abba explained.

Although the F-35 is not primarily an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft, Abba described this latent F-35 capability as “drive-by ISR.”

But the anecdote highlights the F-35’s evolving role within the U.S. military for the suppression or destruction of enemy air defenses (SEAD/DEAD) mission.

“Make no bones about it, this aircraft is the preeminent SEAD/DEAD platform,” Abba said, “and that’s what we need to optimize it for.”

The description of the F-35 as the “preeminent” platform for the SEAD/DEAD mission is striking. Only four years ago, the Air Force’s written testimony to Congress described the F-35A as possessing only a “limited” SEAD/DEAD role. The aircraft also lacks certain features such as a stand-off jamming system and an anti-radiation missile, which are the tools of the trade for other aircraft performing the SEAD/DEAD mission, such as the Boeing EA-18G.

But the F-35’s potential as a counter air-defense system is growing. The Air Force last year launched development of the Stand-In Attack Weapon to give the F-35 a long-range anti-radiation missile, which is adapted from the Navy’s Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range. The Block 4 modernization program also would add the MBDA Spear missile, which includes an electronic-warfare capability.

More recently, the F-35 also has demonstrated an ability to act as a stand-in sensor for long-range, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles.

Helikopter - Koronaproblemer - AIN

Covid-19 Shutters London Heliport

The Covid-19 crisis has claimed another victim: the London Heliport at Battersea is closed until at least April 13 on advice from Public Health England and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In a statement issued Monday morning, the heliport said it has paused all operations and is “unable to provide full services until the national lockdown is lifted.” The statement added the heliport expected to resume operations in the future and that it would “consistently ensure that our dedicated clients and stakeholders are updated with any changes, as soon as clarity is provided.”

Heliport general manager Simon Hutchins praised the performance of his team to date during the crisis. “Everyone has been working tirelessly to ensure we adhere to government guidance at all times.” As April 13 approaches, the heliport said it would issue a status update.

The London Heliport has been in operation since 1959 and is currently owned by the real estate firm Reuben Brothers. It is the only CAA-licensed heliport, hosting nearly 12,000 operations annually, many of them connecting passengers to executive aircraft at suburban London airports at London Biggin Hill, Luton, Oxford, Farnborough, and Stansted. Located on the River Thames between Battersea and Wandsworth bridges, the heliport caters to customers requiring fast access in and out of the city. The heliport also runs its own charter brokerage.

Airbus Closes Voom Per-seat Helicopter Charter Service

Airbus-backed helicopter charter service Voom ceased operations on March 30. Confirming the decision in a blog post, Voom CEO Clément Monnet said Airbus decided not to resume services that had been suspended on March 23 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Voom launched its on-demand, per-seat booking service in 2017 in São Paulo, Brazil, and later expanded it to Mexico City and the San Francisco area. The company used a network of operators to provide the flights, which could be booked via an app or online up to an hour before departure.

According to Monnet, Voom has provided Airbus with extensive data about consumer preferences and behavior that will support the wider plans of its Silicon Valley-based A3 division to develop urban air mobility services using eVTOL aircraft. He also hailed what he said was the first mobile helicopter booking platform in a market that now includes competitors Uber Copter and Blade.

Nearly 150,000 people signed up for the Voom app and the service flew more than 15,000 passengers. In its first year of operation, 60 percent of customers were making their first flight in a helicopter. Monnet claimed that the service achieved a 45 percent repeat customer rate and that the average price for a ride was around double the cost of private car service but 10 times faster.

Behovet for nye fly vil falle med 25% frem til 2026 mener analytikere - AW&ST

Pandemic Cuts New-Aircraft Needs 25% Through 2025, Analysts Say

Sean Broderick March 30, 2020

Vertical plugged a 40% traffic decline into its model for 2020, with rebounds of 19% next year and 10% in 2022, the company said in a Mar. 30 research note. Among the outputs: airlines would need 6,300 new aircraft over the next five years, down from its previous forecast of 8,300.

On a percentage basis, the reduction would hit narrowbodies and widebodies equally, reducing demand for each category by about 25%. Vertical’s revised analysis shows airlines would need 1,540 fewer narrowbodies and 380 fewer widebodies.

“A 40% decline in traffic this year would be by far the largest RPM [revenue passenger miles] decline in the history of flight, but that is very close to the 38% decline that IATA is now projecting for 2020,” Vertical wrote.

The delivery declines would come on top of what is expected to be a sharp increase in aircraft retirements. While airlines are only beginning to sort out what their post-pandemic fleets will look like, speculation is that many older and larger models, including Boeing 747s, 757s and 767s and Airbus A380s, will not return from storage. Older A320s and 737 Next Generation airframes could be in a similar position.

“In previous downturns we have seen a spike in old aircraft retirements, and after a period of unusually low retirements in 2018-19, this could occur again,” Vertical said.

Figures compiled by both Aviation Week and Oliver Wyman suggested that retirements were edging up even before the pandemic struck in early 2020. Preliminary figures in the Aviation Week Fleet Data Services database show that 2019 ended a five-year stretch during which total removals averaged 567 per year. The next five years will see annual figures average 1,122—a figure that will surely rise as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic’s drag on air travel demand.

Oliver Wyman’s preliminary figures showed retirements in the commercial fleet it tracks topped 700 in 2019, on the heels of three consecutive years of about 500 annually.

KC-46 bør erklæres en fiasko - Nå lekkasjer - Problemer med refuelling boom er ikke løst - AW&ST

USAF Announces New Major Deficiency On KC-46

Lee Hudson March 31, 2020

Boeing is required to make additional fixes to its KC-46 tanker.
Credit: U.S. Air ForceThe U.S. Air Force has upgraded an existing deficiency for the KC-46A Pegasus fuel system to Category 1.

The service’s program office first identified “excessive fuel leaks” in July after an air refueling test. The Air Force and Boeing are working together to determine the root cause and implement corrective actions. A Category 1 deficiency means the government has identified a risk that jeopardizes lives or critical assets.

“The KC-46 Program Office continues to monitor the entire KC-46 fleet and is enhancing acceptance testing of the fuel system to identify potential leaks at the factory where they can be repaired prior to delivery,” according to an Air Force statement.

Boeing is contractually obligated to rectify this deficiency at no additional cost to the Air Force.

“We are disappointed to learn of this development and are already implementing assembly and installation improvements to correct the issue,” Boeing spokesman Larry Chambers said in a statement to Aerospace DAILY. “We have repaired several of the airplanes and will continue to implement repairs as needed. Boeing is working with urgency to address this issue.”

The Air Force discovered several required fuel-system repairs, Chambers said. The fuel system is equipped with redundant protection for fuel containment.

“In some cases with this issue, aircraft maintenance crews are finding fuel between the primary and secondary fuel barriers within the system,” Chambers said.

The KC-46A program still faces other unresolved Category 1 deficiencies that involve the Remote Vision System (RVS) and the boom telescope actuator. The problem with the RVS is what the Air Force calls a “rubber sheet” effect that distorts the image on the visual display used by the boom operator during refueling operations. The actuator on the boom needs to be more sensitive to smaller receiver aircraft, such as A-10s and F-16s. Boeing has agreed to pay for the RVS design fix, while the Air Force will finance the design change to the actuator.

“There’s profound problems with the system,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said March 3 during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

The service is certifying the aircraft to conduct airlift and medical evacuation missions. The plan is for the Air Force to employ the KC-46 in those roles while a long-term fix is being developed, Goldfein said.

Goldfein told new Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to focus on the KC-46 program, even as it is fixing the 737 MAX. Calhoun said the KC-46 is his top military priority.

“I have seen a change in the behavior of that company since he took over, and so that’s why we’re more confident sitting here today that we have a serious fix on the table,” Goldfein said. “We’re in final negotiations, so we can’t go into any more detail than that. But I will say that it’s looking better today than it was even six months ago.”

UAM prosjekter kaprer folk - Defence Daily

Hyundai Hires Scott Drennan, Former Bell Vice President of Innovation, for Air Taxi Project

J. Scott Drennan joins Hyundai’s urban air mobility team after 25 years at Bell, including two as head of its air taxi project.[/caption]

South Korean automaker Hyundai [HYMTF] continues to snap up key talent for its urban air mobility (UAM) division,…

NASA X-59 prosjektet forstyrres ikke av koronakrisen - Curt Lewis

Production of NASA's new X-59 supersonic jet continues amid coronavirus outbreak

"Lockheed Martin is continuing with X-59 production operations."

Production on NASA's new X-59 supersonic X-plane despite closures and delays in the space industry caused by the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

In a March 20 statement, NASA officials said that "in California, work continues by Lockheed Martin on X-59, NASA's first large-scale, piloted X-plane in more than 30 years, while NASA oversight and inspections will be conducted almost exclusively virtually."

"Lockheed Martin is continuing with X-59 production operations, and the only on-site NASA presence is a Quality Assurance representative when needed for the GMIPs (Government Mandatory Inspection Points)," said Craig Nickol, NASA's Low Boom Flight Demonstrator project manager, in a statement provided to Space.com.

Final assembly for the supersonic plane, which was officially named X-59 QueSST in 2018, was greenlit during a critical design review in 2019. The plane is designed to travel over land faster than the speed of sound. But, unlike earlier supersonic planes, its main draw is that it will supposedly create an ultraquiet sonic boom, making it much less of a disturbance to the general public.

As a Lockheed Martin representative told Space.com in February, "We're very confident. All kinds of modeling simulations and predictions align, so we believe, based on these models and simulations we've run, that it will achieve that low-boom sound once it reaches supersonic speeds."

The supersonic X-59 QueSST is not the only new X-plane NASA is continuing work on amid the coronavirus pandemic. The agency is also making advances on its new X-57 all-electric plane, NASA spokesperson Sasha Ellis of the Langley Research Center said via email.

The supersonic X-59 QueSST is not the only new X-plane NASA is continuing work on amid the coronavirus pandemic. The agency is also making advances on its new X-57 all-electric plane, NASA spokesperson Sasha Ellis of the Langley Research Center said via email.

Discussing further how work is progressing amid coronavirus, the spokesperson recently told Space.com that "work is also continuing on NASA's X-57, the agency's first all-electric X-plane."

"The team is maintaining communication and getting parts in place for functional tests, taxi tests, and eventually flight tests," Matt Kamlet, NASA's X-57 public affairs specialist at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, said in the statement.

Ex Braathens DC-6B som skulle til Sola, forhindret av økonomi og Korona - Jan-Petter Helgesen

Historisk Braathen-flyrammet av Korona-viruset og høy dollarkurs

Det tidligere flyet til Braathens SAFE av typen Douglas DC-6B Cloudmaster er rammet av korona-smitten. Flyet var ventet til Flyhistorisk museum, Sola, i dagene 26. til 29. mars i år, men fergeflygingen fra Fairbanks i Alaska til Stavanger lufthavn, Sola, er utsatt på ubestemt tid.

Av Jan-Petter Helgesen

Sola

Styreleder Egil Endresen i Venneforeningen til flymuseet sier at også andre problem har dukket opp den siste tiden i forbindelse med overtakelsen av det 63 år gamle veteranflyet fra ruteflygingens barndom i Norge. Den skyhøye dollarkursen på 11-12 kroner per dollar ar gjort at det for øyeblikket ikke er økonomi i prosjektet. Museet på Sola jobber med saken, men i følge Endresen er det usikkert hva resultatet vil bli.

Dermed er det uklart om flyet som skulle vært fløyet til Stavanger lufthavn via Nordpolen kommer tilbake til sin tidligere base fra 1960-årene. Flyger og eier av selskapet Evert Air Cargo i Alaska skulle selv føre flyet på den siste turen til Norge. Karantene-bestemmelsene i både USA og her i landet hindrer for øyeblikket turen. I tillegg kommer også dollarkursen.

De amerikanske eierne skal ha rundt 400.000 amerikanske dollar for flyet. Med en kurs på omkring åtte kroner per dollar ville dette bli 3,2 millioner kroner.

Totalt ville flymuseet motta 4,05 millioner kroner til kjøpet fra Ludvig G. Braathens fond. Å ta over og klargjøre det fire-motors stempelmotor flyet vil koste 470.000 kroner. Dessuten beregner Endresen og hans folk det vil koste 820.000 kroner å bevare og vedlikeholde maskinen for utendørsparkering i 10 år framover.

-Den høye dollarkursen forverrer dessverre problemene og økonomien i prosjektet, sier styreleder Egil Endresen i Venneforeningen til Flyhistorisk museum, Sola.

Douglas DC-6B-flyet fra den gang LN-SUB fløy for Braathens SAFE.

Jan-Petter Helgesen

Journalist og forfatter/
Journalist and Author

Medlem av: Norsk Journalistlag og Norsk Faglitterær forfatterforening

Fantastisk gyro for navigasjon uten satellitter - UAS Vision

Small, Precise and Affordable Gyroscope for Navigating without GPS

The new resonator and electrodes, on a finger for scale. The resonator is almost perfectly symmetrical, made of nearly-pure glass. This enables it to vibrate for long periods, similar to the ringing of a wine glass

A small, inexpensive and highly accurate gyroscope, developed at the University of Michigan, could help drones and autonomous cars stay on track without a GPS signal.

“Our gyroscope is 10,000 times more accurate but only 10 times more expensive than gyroscopes used in your typical cell phones. This gyroscope is 1,000 times less expensive than much larger gyroscopes with similar performance,”

said Khalil Najafi, the Schlumberger Professor of Engineering at U-M and a professor of electrical engineering and computer science.

Most smartphones contain gyroscopes to detect the orientation of the screen and help figure out which way we’re facing, but their accuracy is poor. They’re the reason why phones often incorrectly indicate which direction a user is facing during navigation.

It doesn’t matter much to a human on the street or behind the wheel, but a driverless car could get lost quickly with a loss of GPS signal. Inside their backup navigation systems, autonomous vehicles currently use high-performance gyroscopes that are larger and much more expensive.

“High-performance gyroscopes are a bottleneck, and they have been for a long time. This gyroscope can remove this bottleneck by enabling the use of high-precision and low-cost inertial navigation in most autonomous vehicles,”

said Jae Yoong Cho, an assistant research scientist in electrical engineering and computer science.

Better backup navigation equipment could also help soldiers find their way in areas where GPS signals have been jammed. Or in a more mundane scenario, accurate indoor navigation could speed up warehouse robots.

The device that enables navigation without a consistent orienting signal is called an inertial measurement unit. It is made up of three accelerometers and three gyroscopes, one for each axis in space. But getting a good read on which way you’re going with existing IMUs is so pricey that it has been out of range, even for equipment as expensive as autonomous vehicles.

The key to making this affordable, small gyroscope is a nearly symmetrical mechanical resonator. It looks like a Bundt pan crossed with a wine glass, made one centimeter wide. As with wine glasses, the duration of the ringing tone produced when the glass is struck depends on the quality of the glass—but instead of being an aesthetic feature, the ring is crucial to the gyroscope’s function. The complete device uses electrodes placed around the glass resonator to push and pull on the glass, making it ring and keeping it going.

“Basically, the glass resonator vibrates in a certain pattern. If you suddenly rotate it, the vibrating pattern wants to stay in its original orientation. So, by monitoring the vibration pattern it is possible to directly measure rotation rate and angle,”

said Sajal Singh, a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering who helped develop the manufacturing process.

The way that the vibrating motion moves through the glass reveals when, how fast and by how much the gyroscope spins in space.

The new gyroscope with the vacuum package open, revealing the resonator inside. The resonator is almost perfectly symmetrical, made of nearly-pure glass. This enables it to vibrate for long periods, similar to the ringing of a wine glass

To make their resonators as perfect as possible, Najafi’s team starts with a nearly perfect sheet of pure glass, known as fused-silica, about a quarter of a millimeter thick. They use a blowtorch to heat the glass and then mold it into a Bundt-like shape—known as a “birdbath” resonator since it also resembles an upside-down birdbath.

Then, they add a metallic coating to the shell and place electrodes around it that initiate and measure vibrations in the glass. The whole thing is encased in a vacuum package, about the footprint of a postage stamp and half a centimeter tall, which prevents air from quickly damping out the vibrations.

The paper, “0.00016 deg/√hr angle random walk (ARW) and 0.0014 deg/hr bias instability (BI) from a 5.2M-Q and 1-cm precision shell integrating (PSI) gyroscope,” is scheduled to be presented at the (now virtual) 7th IEEE international Symposium on Inertial Sensors & Systems March 25.

The research was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Cho and Najafi are co-founders of a startup company, Enertia Microsystems, based on the technology licensed from U-M.

Photos: Najafi Group

Droner - FLIR Black Hornet som er norsk, selger til FFI - UAS Vision video

First Order for FLIR Black Hornet Vehicle Reconnaissance System

FLIR Systems, Inc. announced that the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment has procured one of the company’s Black Hornet Vehicle Reconnaissance Systems (VRS) as part of an innovative base protection program. The order represents the first sale of an integrated VRS system for FLIR.

The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) is the prime institution responsible for defence-related research and development in Norway. Its ICE worx department is overseeing this technology-driven effort that includes live testing new concepts for base protection involving multiple active and passive sensors, command and control systems, as well as threat mitigation and defeat capabilities.

FLIR Black Hornet VRS equips armoured or mechanized vehicles with an immediate, self-contained surveillance and reconnaissance system. Adapted from the Black Hornet Personal Reconnaissance System (PRS), VRS extends the capabilities of the award-winning Black Hornet nano-UAV. The launch unit, with fully integrated controls inside the vehicle, mounts externally and can deploy up to four Black Hornet drones. The result is a remotely operated UAV system that delivers real-time situational awareness while crews stay protected inside their vehicle.

“Among their many missions, our Black Hornet PRS and VRS systems can help reduce the manpower needed to secure base camps, protect forces, or gather actionable intel on the battlefield,” said Roger Wells, VP and general manager of the Unmanned Systems & Integrated Solutions business line at FLIR. “FFI’s program is a good model of collaboration between Norwegian defense and industry to develop innovative, cost-effective solutions that can save lives. We’re proud to be playing a role.”

The Black Hornet is designed and built by FLIR in Norway. FLIR also has supplied unmanned ground systems to Norwegian military and law enforcement for more than 10 years, including a contract last fall to provide more than 20 of its PackBot robots to Norway’s Ministry of Defense and the Oslo Police.

Siste: BA stenger ned på LGW - BBC

BA closes Gatwick base indefinitely amid coronavirus crisis

Airline will move all its operations to Heathrow to saveccash

Norwegian kansellerer til Finnmark - VG

07:42Andreas Løf

Norwegian kansellerer alle avganger til Finnmark i april

Passasjerer som skulle ha fløyet med Norwegian til og fra Finnmark i april, blir i disse dager informert av flyselskapet om at flyavgangene er kansellert.

Presseansvarlig Charlotte Holmbergh i Norwegian Jacobsson opplyser at dette skyldes restriksjonene rundt om i verden og kraftig fall i etterspørselen etter reiser som følge av situasjonen med Covid-19, skriver iFinnmark.

– Med tanke på den rådende situasjonen, har vi dessverre ikke noe valg, sier hun.

På spørsmål om det kan komme kansellerte avganger også med SAS i april, svarer selskapets danske pressetalsperson, Sille Beck-Hansen, at SAS i øyeblikket ikke ser lenger fram enn en uke av gangen.

Widerøe opprettholder flyginger til Finnmark i april, etter avtale med Samferdselsdepartementet. (NTB)

ESA og økonomisk støtte - VG

08:40Andreas Løf

ESA godkjenner norsk støtte til flyselskaper

ESA har godkjent en garantiordning i Norge for flyselskaper som mangler likviditet grunnet de økonomiske konsekvensene av covid-19-pandemien.

– ESA har handlet raskt for å godkjenne garantiordningen, sier ESAs president Bente Angell-Hansen tirsdag.

– I disse krevende tider har pandemirelaterte tiltak høyeste prioritet. Det gode samarbeidet med norske myndigheter og EU-kommisjonen bidro til en rask beslutning fra vår side, legger hun til. (NTB)

Bakkemannskap og deres arbeidssituasjon godt beskrevet her - BBC

Coronavirus: Airport handlers at risk of collapse

By Theo Leggett Business correspondent, BBC News

The four companies which manage ground operations at UK airports have warned that they are close to collapse, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

Swissport, WFS, Dnata and Menzies may not be able to continue operating for more than a few weeks, with some 25,000 jobs under threat.
In a joint letter, they called for urgent assistance from the government.
With most passenger flights suspended amid the coronavirus pandemic, their revenues have taken a hit.
In the letter addressed to the chancellor, they said: "We have all been able to weather previous crises, whether 9/11, Sars or the Icelandic volcanic eruption, but Covid-19 is different, as it is both global and longer-term."
The firms provide 90% of airport handling services across the country, and say that airports could have to close if they collapse.
They warned that without their services, "the airport infrastructure in the UK would grind to a halt for up to four months".

Airlines are cutting back

Between them, these four companies manage nearly all of the ground handling operations required by airlines at the UK's airports. They include refuelling, cleaning, baggage transfer, departure gate services and the loading and unloading of cargo.
They do not work for the airports themselves, but are directly contracted by the airlines. They operate on a "pay-as-you-go" basis, charging for each service they provide.
However, airlines are cutting their passenger operations right back due to travel restrictions around the world associated with the coronavirus pandemic.

Cargo operations are continuing, and indeed some aircraft that would normally carry passengers have been operating as "ghost flights", simply to transport freight. But even that source of revenue is beginning to decline.
As a result, the ground handlers say that they have lost 95% of their revenues over the past few weeks.
According to Swissport's boss in Western Europe, Justin Holt, without immediate government support, the sector is "perilously close to collapse".
If ground handlers were to go into administration, he claims, airports would simply be unable to operate.
"The aviation system is a triangle of airlines, airports and ground handling businesses", he says.
"Without cargo and ground handling companies, international supply chains will stop functioning during the Covid-19 pandemic and recovery."

His concerns are shared by the airports themselves, according to Henk van Klaveren, spokesman for the Airport Operators Association.
"It is a very serious issue, particularly for smaller airports where there is only one ground handling operator", he says.
"These airports still need to operate, even with fewer flights. There's essential cargo, flights to isolated regions and so on."
The worry within the industry is that while the airlines themselves enjoy a high profile - and the political clout that goes with it - ground handling services operate far below the radar, but need help more urgently. As one executive put it, "no one will see us quietly expire."

Process 'needs to be accelerated'

The four companies have welcomed Chancellor Rishi Sunak's job retention scheme, under which a government grant will help to cover the wages of employees who have to be put on furlough.
But according to Swissport executive Justin Holt, the process needs to be accelerated, so that they can get the money quickly.
He says further measures will be needed as well, including a holiday from National Insurance payments and business rates.
A further concern is that these businesses are ineligible for the help offered by the government to struggling businesses under emergency schemes, because the four companies do not meet the right criteria. They have asked for those criteria to be relaxed.
The government, meanwhile, insists that the aviation sector is important to the UK economy, and can draw on an unprecedented range of measures designed to help companies through the crisis.

Enda en medisinrelatert ulykke - Nepal - Curt Lewis

Harbin Y-12E - Landed short (Nepal)

Date:	28-MAR-2020
Time:
Type:	Harbin Y-12E
Owner/operator:	Nepal Airlines
Registration:	9N-AKU
C/n / msn:	028
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Unknown
Location:	Nepalganj Airport (KEP/VNNG) - Nepal
Phase:	Landing
Nature:	Cargo
Departure airport:	Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport (KTM/VNKT)
Destination airport:	Nepalganj Airport (KEP/VNNG)

Narrative:
A Nepal Airlines Y-12E aircraft reportedly touched down short of the runway at Nepalganj Airport. It came to a stop in vegetation at the side of the runway.
The flight had taken off from Kathmandu at 10:00 local time with medical supplies and a medical doctor on board

SAS mister konsernfinansdirektøren - Check-In

Torbjørn Wist, koncernfinansdirektør i SAS. (Foto: SAS AB | PR)

Koncernfinansdirektør forlader SAS

Af: Ole Kirchert Christensen i Navnenyt 30. marts 2020

Efter blot to år som ansvarlig for finanserne i SAS har norske Torbjørn Wist valgt at søge nye udfordringer. Det sker på et kritisk tidspunkt for det skandinaviske flyselskab.

Det går stærkt i luftfartens verden, og måske også stærkere end man nogle gange kan ønske sig.

Sådan er der også hos SAS, der netop har modtaget en opsigelse fra den norske koncernfinansdirektør Torbjørn Wist, der har valgt at fortsætte karrieren i en tilsvarende stilling hos det norsk-svenske rederi Wallenius Wilhelmsen.

Tidspunktet er alt andet end ideelt for SAS, der står i sin værste krise nogensinde som følge af COVID-19-pandemien.

“Jeg vil gerne takke Torbjørn for hans bidrag igennem de seneste par år. Selvom jeg beklager, at Torbjørn forlader virksomheden, så forstår og respekterer jeg hans beslutning. Vi starter straks processen med at rekruttere en ny finansdirektør,” siger koncernchef Rickard Gustafson.

To år i SAS
Nordmanden fik således en relativt kort karriere hos SAS. Han trådte ind ad døren hos SAS den 1. marts 2018, og efter blot to års ansættelse vælger han nu at søge nye udfordringer.

“Dette har ikke været en let beslutning i betragtning af den aktuelle uro i markedet, men det er et resultat af en proces, der startede længe før COVID-19 blev et globalt emne. Lad der ikke være nogen tvivl om, at min eneste prioritet i de kommende måneder er at hjælpe med at sikre SAS ‘fortsatte rolle som kritisk infrastrukturudbyder i Skandinavien,” siger Torbjørn Wist, der først tiltræder i sin nye stilling i september.

Stadig nordmand i koncernledelse
Torbjørn Wist kom til SAS fra telebranchen, hvor han var koncernfinansdirektør hos Telenor. Før den tid var Torbjørn Wist beskæftiget som finansanalytiker i New York og London.

Da Torbjørn Wist blev ansat i SAS, skulle han samtidig udfylde rollen som norsk repræsentant i koncernledelsen, da der siden 1946 har været en tradition for, at koncernledelsen bemandes med repræsentanter fra de tre skandinaviske lande.

Efter den kommende exit vil der dog stadig være en normand i koncernledelsen. Således blev Kjetil Håbjørg sidste efterår udnævnt som Chief Services Officer i forbindelse med en ledelsesrokade.

KLM skal hogge opp sin siste B747-400 - Check-In

Sidste KLM Boeing 747 forlader Mexico City (PH-BFT) den 28. marts 2020. (Foto: Menno Swart | Twitter)

Stilfærdig afsked med KLM´s Boeing 747

Af: Ole Kirchert Christensen i Flådenyt 30. marts 2020 Senest opdateret: 30. marts 2020 kl. 19:31

Søndag landede den sidste Boeing 747 fra KLM i Amsterdam Schiphol Airport efter en flyvning fra Mexico City. COVID-19 tog livet af jumbojetten et år før tiden.

For få måneder siden var det planen, at KLM skulle udfase selskabets flåde af Boeing 747-fly i passagerversionen i begyndelsen af 2021. Disse planer blev imidlertid voldsomt fremskyndet som følge af COVID-19-pandemien, og søndag landede en af selskabets store lyseblå jumbojets for sidste gang i Amsterdam Schiphol Airport med passagerer ombord.

Oprindeligt skulle KL644 fra New York-JFK til Amsterdam den 3. januar 2021 have været sidste passagerflyvning med Boeing 747 hos KLM, men det blev i stedet KL686 fra Mexico City til Amsterdam den 28. marts 2020 med ankomst i den hollandske storlufthavn den 29. marts, som blev selskabets absolut sidste Boeing 747-ruteflyvning med passagerer.

Det var en Boeing 747-400M – den særlige kombiudgave – med registreringen PH-BFT, der gennemførte den historiske flyvning. Flyet, der er døbt City of Tokyo, blev leveret til KLM den 15. maj 1997. Et fly indrettet med plads til kun 268 passagerer, da det samtidig rummer et stort godstransportdæk, hvor der er plads til alt fra store pakker til levende dyr som elefanter og heste.

Boeing 747 siden 1971
De sidste KLM-destinationer, der blev betjent med Boeing 747 var udover Mexico City også caribiske Curaçao og Paramaribo, der er hovedstad i republikken Surinam i det nordøstlige Sydamerika.

Lørdag den 28. marts afgik tre fly fra de nævnte destinationer med kurs mod Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Det var Mexico-flyet, der var planlagt til at ankomme sidst, der således fik æren af at blive det sidste Boeing 747-passagerfly i luften hos det hollandske SkyTeam-selskab.

Der var ingen festligheder arrangeret i forbindelse med den sidste ankomst, som det ellers har været traditionen ved andre flytyper, og som flyselskaber over hele verden plejer at gøre. Baggrunden for den pludselige pensionering var tilsyneladende for alvorlig til at igangsætte for meget festivitas.

KLM har fløjet med Boeing 747 siden begyndelsen af 1971, men den nuværende 400-version daterer sig tilbage til foråret 1989, hvor den rene passagerversion blev introduceret i flåden, men kombiudgaven 400M kom et halvt år senere.

Gennem tiden har KLM beskæftiget i alt 26 Boeing 747-400 i både kombi- og fragtversioner, og passagerflyene har altid været opkaldt efter alverdens storbyer. De sidste 747´ere, der nu har forladt flåden, var Johannesburg, Lima, Nairobi, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo og Vancouver.

Ophugges i hjemlandet
KLM´s gamle Boeing 747-fly vil ende sine dage hos det hollandske demonteringsselskab AELS (Aircraft End-of-Life Solutions, red.). Dette selskab har desuden indgået aftaler med SWISS og Air France om ophugning af en række pensionerede Airbus A340-fly.

Søsterselskabet Air France satte den sidste Boeing 747 på jorden allerede i 2016, så i de kommende år vil det i den fransk hollandske luftfartskoncern kun være muligt at opleve Boeing 747-400F i KLM-farverne via de tre fragtfly, som Martinair Cargo opererer på vegne af KLM.

EasyJet med interne problemer - Check-In

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou grundlagde som 28-årig easyJet i 1995 (Foto: easy.com | PR)

Drama i kulissen hos easyJet

Af: Ole Kirchert Christensen i Økonomi 30. marts 2020

Mandag var easyJet i fokus, da selskabet satte flere end 330 fly på jorden, mens hovedaktionæren, under trusler om at afsætte bestyrelsen, krævede, at en stor flyordre hos Airbus blev annulleret.

Det britiske lavprisflyselskab easyJet står ligesom mange andre flyselskab i en særdeles vanskelig situation midt i coronakrisen.

For åbent tæppe udspillede der sig mandag et drama i kølvandet på et brev, som selskabets grundlægger og nuværende hovedaktionær Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou søndag sendte til bestyrelsesformand John Barton og otte andre bestyrelsesmedlemmer.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou ejer sammen med sin familie lidt under 34 procent af aktierne i flyselskabet, så det er således en stemme, som ledelse og bestyrelse bliver nødt til at lytte til.

EasyJet-stifteren er bekymret over, at ledelsen ikke har taget initiativ til at annullere en igangværende ordre hos Airbus, hvor der skal betales 4,5 milliarder britiske pund, eller godt 38 milliarder danske kroner, i perioden fra 2020 til 2023. Han beskriver ordren som værende en hovedrisiko i forhold til selskabets overlevelse.

Vil holde bestyrelsen ansvarlig
I brevet til bestyrelsen ønsker Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, at easyJet henvender sig til Airbus og påberåber sig force majeure i forbindelse med ordren på de 107 fly.

“Selv med en genoptagelse af flytrafikken vil passagerindtægterne sandsynligvis være for lave til at holde trit med udgifterne og vil sandsynligvis gøre easyJet insolvent, hvis selskabet fortsat betaler Airbus for flere fly,” hedder det i brevet.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou har givet bestyrelsen en frist til onsdag middag til at forholde sig til indholdet i brevet, og han truer samtidig med at indkalde til en ekstraordinær generalforsamling hver syvende uge for at afsætte bestyrelsesmedlemmerne én efter én. I krigserklæringen hedder det endvidere:

“Denne krise kan resultere i insolvens for easyJet, og hvis det viser sig, at der er betalt en eneste penny fra virksomheden til Airbus i tiden fra groundingen af flåden og frem til datoen for insolvensen eller frem til en kapitalforhøjelse, der kan forhindre insolvens, vil jeg personligt sagsøge personligt alle easyJet-bestyrelsesmedlemmer for grov uagtsomhed og for at bedrage easyJets kreditorer til fordel for en kreditor (Airbus med tvivlsomme rettigheder til disse penge) frem for alle andre.”

Ikke brug for statslån
Mandag kunne easyJet også meddele, at selskabet har sat samtlige 337 fly på jorden samtidig med, at kabinepersonalet er hjemsendt fra den 1. april og indtil udgangen af maj. Der er ingen oplysninger om, hvornår flyene kan komme i luften igen.

Selskabets svenske koncernchef Johan Lundgren har offentligt tilkendegivet, at easyJet bliver nødt til at bede regeringen om et lån. Det er Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou heller ikke enig i.

“Hvis vi ikke betaler Airbus, så har vi ikke brug for statslån. Det ville være et misbrug af skatteydernes penge at sikre sig lån for at betale Airbus for en investering i 107 fly, der ikke vil være rentabel. Vi bør i stedet forhøje kapitalen,” lyder det.

Det er ikke mange dage siden, at easyJet-hovedaktionæren fik udbetalt 60 millioner pund (500 millioner kroner) i udbytte fra easyJet. Disse penge – og flere til – er Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou angiveligt klar til at indskyde i forbindelse med en kapitalforhøjelse.

Bestyrelsen har i et foreløbigt svar meddelt, at man arbejder for at udsætte og reducere betalingerne til Airbus.

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