Innovation
Airbus delays force Qantas to postpone Project Sunrise launch
Airbus have blamed supply chain difficulties as it delays delivery of Qantas's first ultra-long-haul A350-1000. Nicknamed 'Project Sunrise', Qantas plans to use the aircraft to run direct flights from Sydney Kingsford Smith to London Heathrow and New York JFK. The...
easyJet and Amsterdam Schiphol deploy electronic TaxiBot
easyJet and Amstedam Schiphol have rolled out an automated TaxiBot system for quieter and more sustainable ground operations. TaxiBot is a semi-robotic tractor that moves aircraft between gates and the runway. During the process, the aircraft only operates with its...
The startup building an AI platform to support airline operations
Last week, Overwatch AI announced they'd successfully raised $1.5 million in funding, with contributors including the venture arms of United Airlines and Pegasus. Back in March, we spoke to CPTO Nikita Kaeshko at our sister event Aviation Festival Asia, fresh off the...
SpaceX unveil plans to go public on the US stock market
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has announced the aerospace company's intention to file a public IPO. SpaceX values itself at an impressive US$1.25 trillion. Covering space exploration, satellite firm Starlink, and subsidiary xAI, the firm's activities are innovative and often...
Emirates begin construction on $5bn MRO facility
Emirates have begun construction on a high-tech US$5.1 billion MRO facility in Dubai South. Totalling 1.1 million square metres, once complete the building will be one of the world's largest by volume, as well as the largest steel structure in the Gulf. China Railway...
Microsensors detect ice build-up on aircraft wings in real time
A new microsensor developed by a startup at the University of Surrey can detect ice build-up on an aircraft's wings in real time. Surrey Sensors say their 3cm-long sensors will help pilots understand what's happening to their wings during a flight and ultimately make...
Soji AI and Active Partners collaborate on AI for MRO records
Singaporean software developers Soji AI have announced a new collaboration with Active Partners to advance AI use in MRO record keeping. Under the partnership, the parties will explore how technology can optimise the delivery and inspection of aircraft and engines....
Heroes don’t scale: Why the airline OCC is quietly becoming a trading floor
The disruption environment changed underneath the people we trained to absorb it. The job description has quietly moved from fire station to portfolio management — and most operations are still running on the old manual. By Joshua Goring, Chief Commercial Officer,...
Japan’s first vertiport consortium targets operations by 2028
A new vertiport consortium led by eVOL developers SkyDrive hopes to make commercial air taxi services a reality in Japan. With partners including Osaka Metro Company, Soracle, and Marubeni Corporation, SkyDrive plan to launch their aircraft in the Kansai prefecture...
Alaska Airlines to train pilots with Boeing’s Virtual Airplane
Alaska Airlines have signed a formal license agreement for the Boeing Virtual Airplane, a training solution designed to accelerate pilot readiness. Alaska Airlines helped develop the tool, which is device-agnostic and lets pilots practice procedures within the...
First look at the agenda for Aerospace Tech Week 2026
Aerospace Tech Week (ATW) have unveiled the agenda for the next edition of the event, taking place in November. This year the conference will be held in London for the first time, bringing together innovators across the industry while highlighting the UK's dynamic...
Joby execute first point-to-point eVTOL flight in New York City
Joby Aviation have conducted the first ever point-to-point eVTOL flight across the New York City skyline in a demonstration of how an air taxi network could operate across the US's most populous urban area. During the test flight, Joby's N545JX aircraft took off from...
New facility converts used plastic into sustainable aviation fuel
Now operational in Kent, UK, Clean Planet Technologies has opened a facility that can convert used plastics into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The first plant of its kind in the world, the process takes waste that cannot be recycled and turns it into fuel,...
Reliable Robotics raise $160m for autonomous flight development
US-based aerospace developers Reliable Robotics have closed a US$160 million funding round to accelerate their autonomous aircraft systems. The Reliable Autonomy System (RAS) aims to improve the safety of aviation while being fully integrable with existing...
Cirium review ranks world’s most carbon-efficient airlines
Aviation data experts Cirium have published their EmeraldSky Annual Review, ranking the world's airlines on their carbon efficiency in 2025. The list is decided based on CO₂ per available seat kilometres (ASK). Ousting Wizz Air from the number one spot are Scoot, the...
IndiGo invest in eVTOL startup Sarla Aviation through Ventures arm
IndiGo have invested in Sarla Aviation, a startup based in Bengaluru developing eVTOL air taxis. New data from India's Registrar of Companies shows the airline made the investment through IndiGo Ventures, their US$52 million innovation funding arm established in June...
Joby and ASI use AI to explore electric aircraft integration
eVTOL developers Joby Aviation and software company Air Space Intelligence (ASI) are teaming up to explore the real-world integration of advanced air mobility (AAM). Using ASI's Flyaways AI Platform, Joby will deploy high-fidelity 4D modelling to understand how eVTOL...
Breakthrough SAF process could radically simplify production
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a new process that could significantly cut the cost of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production. The US-based research team have found a method of turning ethanol into jet fuel components in a single step,...
Vertical Aerospace eVTOL takes off in first transition test flight
UK advanced air mobility (AAM) developer Vertical Aerospace have completed the first piloted transition test flight of their Valo eVTOL. Taking place on April 2 in Gloucestershire, UK, the test saw the aircraft take off and land in a simulation of a runway...
Jet fuel prices surge as Middle East conflict continues
Jet fuel prices have topped US$200 a barrel as the fallout from the US-Israel attack on Iran continues to destabilise Middle Eastern oil production. IATA's Jet Fuel Price Monitor found that the average price had more than doubled, with costs surging by 58.4% on 6...