Jeg tror dette er fremtiden for de lange rutene. Det er mange år siden Boeing fløy sin skalamodell X-49B
Etter det har også Airbus fått sin versjon. Historien går egentlig tilbake til krigen og tyskernes Ho229. (Red.)
Alaska Airlines Takes Options On JetZero’s Blended
Wing Body
Guy Norris August
13, 2024
A rendering of JetZero's BWB aircraft in Alaska
Airlines livery.
Credit:
JetZero
Alaska Airlines has become the first commercial
operator to declare serious interest in the blended wing body (BWB) aircraft
under development by JetZero, signing options for an undisclosed number of
aircraft while investing in the California-based startup.
The financing, details of which are being
withheld, has been made through Alaska Star Ventures, a venture capital arm
launched by the airline in October 2021 with the mission
of advancing emerging technologies to help reach a goal of net-zero
carbon emissions by 2040.
JetZero has also revealed that Alaska was the
first airline to back the company when it made a previously undisclosed initial
investment in 2023 as part of the startup’s Series A financing round after it emerged from stealth mode.
Describing the JetZero BWB as an “innovative
next-generation aircraft,” Diana Birkett Rakow, Alaska Airlines' senior vice
president of public affairs and sustainability, says the airline is investing
in the program’s promise of delivering a “significant step-change in fuel
efficiency.”
JetZero is developing the BWB under an initial
$235 million U.S. Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) contract awarded in 2023. The
multi-role demonstrator program is aimed at a commercial airliner, initially
for the mid-market sector. A derivative of the aircraft could also be developed
into a military transport/tanker for the U.S. Air Force. JetZero says the BWB
will be up to 50% more fuel efficient than current tube-and-wing transport
aircraft in its class.
The company recently completed the preliminary design review for a full-scale
demonstrator, which it aims to complete in late 2026 for flight tests beginning
in 2027. Sized around the capacity of a Boeing 767
with a wingspan close to that of an Airbus A330, the demonstrator will be built
and tested in collaboration with Northrop Grumman and its prototyping
subsidiary Scaled Composites.
Although Alaska currently operates an all-Boeing mainline
fleet of 737s, with the 190-seat 737-10 due to become the largest model in the
fleet when it enters service in 2025, the airline is widely expected to see a
requirement for higher capacity aircraft in future. Alaska will also indirectly
move into widebody operations through its proposed $1.9 billion merger with
Hawaiian Airlines if the tie-up is approved by the U.S. Justice Department,
which is set to announce a decision within days.
Hawaiian, which would become a wholly owned
subsidiary of Alaska if the merger gets the go-ahead, currently operates a
fleet that includes Airbus A321neos, as well as A330-200s with 278 seats and
787-9s configured for up to 300 passengers. While there is no detail of which
BWB version Alaska has placed options on, JetZero’s initial Z4 model is sized
to seat between approximately 170 and 290 passengers. Two proposed derivatives
will make up the rest of the family: a Z3 model covering the 100-170 seat
range; and a Z5 covering the 290-370 seat range.
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