by Elsie Clark | Sep 9, 2025 | Flight Ops IT
Air Peace and Embraer are collaborating on a new maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) centre in Lagos, Nigeria.
The project was initially proposed two years ago, but is now ready for take off. Air Peace and the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer will start construction on the new facility later this month, with operations expected to commence next year.
An Embraer spokesperson said:
[We] will use [our] experience in the commercial MRO industry to provide advice on aspects related to hangar and capacity planning, tooling/GSE needs, technical training avenues, leadership matrix and KPIs, to list a few.
The OEMs expertise will help maintain Air Peace’s Embraer aircraft, as well as other fleet types in their arsenal.
The new centre will not only support Air Peace, but other airlines across Africa. Egyptair, Ethiopian Airlines, and Royal Air Maroc are among the few African airlines who operate MRO centres within the continent. According to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, the country spends US$2.5 billion on offshore aircraft maintenance each year.
This lack of infrastructure is not only expensive, but protracts downtime for African aircraft. It also diverts resources away from a native aviation industry that is experiencing significant growth: according to IATA, Africa’s aviation market is expected to double by 2044. The Air Peace/Embraer MRO centre therefore represents a significant milestone in the development of West African aviation.
Join us at Aerospace Tech Week 2026, where we’ll be discussing the future of MRO, from predictive analytics to digital twins.
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by Elsie Clark | Sep 8, 2025 | AI & ML, Innovation, Video
From predictive analytics to enhanced scheduling, the aerospace industry now collect more data then ever. But how can Chief Information Officers (CIOs) across the industry leverage that data effectively?
At Aerospace Tech Week 2025, we tapped the expertise of Lauren Edwards, Head of Aerospace and Airlines Practise, from consulting firm Point B. She highlights several priorities for CIOs, including ensuring compatibility between legacy systems and new artificial intelligence (AI) software.
A lot of conversations we’re having are how do we continue to move towards the future while managing and maintaining the information that we have today.
Getting different data systems to ‘talk’ to each other, all while ensuring data cleanliness, presents a challenge for the industry. But when done effectively, the outcomes can be game-changing for customer experience. At the same time, as the workforce ages and workflows incorporate more technology, employees can see significant value too.
We really focus on understanding, and we see the most ROI when your customer experience and your employee experience come together.
🎥 Watch the full interview below to hear more from Lauren on the data landscape for aerospace in the years ahead.
Questions asked include:
- What are the priorities for CIOs in data and privacy in 2025?
- How are data improvements boosting the bottom line for companies?
- What are the major challenges in the landscape?
- What are the untapped benefits of effectively leveraging data and analytics?
Join us at Aerospace Tech Week 2026 to discuss further how data is changing aviation, engineering, and MRO.
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by Elsie Clark | Sep 5, 2025 | Innovation, Sustainability
World-leading engine provider GE Aerospace and cutting-edge manufacturers BETA Technologies are partnering to advance hybrid electric aircraft engines.
The US$300 million equity investment from GE Aerospace will help advance lower-carbon aircraft propulsion. As the leading engine provide for commercial aircraft, powering around three-quarters of the world’ planes, finding more sustainable aerospace solutions is key to the company’s growth.
Through the partnership, GE Aerospace and BETA plan to co-develop a hybrid electric turbogenerator for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) applications. One of the leading players in the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) space, BETA’s expertise complements GE Aerospace’s large-scale manufacturing capabilities.
Kyle Clark, BETA Technologies’ Founder and CEO, commented:
This partnership brings together two teams deeply committed to and guided by aerospace engineering excellence and building the future of flight. We believe the industry is on the precipice of a real step change, and we’re humbled that GE Aerospace has the confidence in our team, technology, and iterative approach to innovation to partner with us.
We look forward to partnering to co-develop products that will unlock the potential of hybrid electric flight, and to do it with the rigour, reliability, and safety that aviation demands.
BETA’s aircraft have been tested in a range of weather conditions, and the company leads the AAM industry in miles and hours flown. Meanwhile, GE Aerospace’s 2022 test of the world’s first megawatt-class, multi-kilovolt (kV) hybrid electric propulsion system demonstrated how the tech could be applied to commercial flight.
The new partnership aims to maximise hybrid electric engine capabilities, from improving range to lowering operating costs. GE Aerospace Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., said:
Partnering with BETA will expand and accelerate hybrid electric technology development, meeting our customers’ needs for differentiated capabilities that provide more range, payload, and optimised engine and aircraft performance.
Join us at Aerospace Tech Week 2026 to advance the flight technologies of the future.
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by Elsie Clark | Sep 4, 2025 | Innovation, Sustainability
The Indian Ministry for Civil Aviation has officially presented its sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) feasibility study at a two-day workshop in New Delhi.
Launched in partnership with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the EU, the study presented key findings on SAF’s growth potential in India ahead of ICAO’s Innovation Fair in Montreal. The workshop sets a comprehensive roadmap for SAF adoption across India, from production to deployment.
At the summit, Minister Ram Mohan Naidu noted:
SAF offers a practical and immediate pathway to decarbonise aviation, with the potential to reduce lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional jet fuel.
The Minister added that scaling SAF production could reduce India’s carbon emissions by 20 to 25 million tonnes annually. Now one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, SAF could be critical to scaling Indian aviation while maintaining net-zero emissions targets.
As a country with over 750 million metric tonnes of biomass and nearly 230 million metric tonnes of surplus agricultural residue, India is well-positioned to become a global hub for SAF manufacture and export. Additionally, the country’s young aircraft fleet is already among the most energy-efficient in the world, providing a solid foundation for further sustainable development.
India’s government has set ambitious targets for SAF deployment: 1% of total fuel for international flights by 2027, and an increase to 5% by 2030. Production at the first certified SAF refinery, Indian Oil’s Panipat, is expected to begin by the end of 2025.
While SAF could potentially reduce the carbon emissions of the energy-intense aviation sector significantly, its long-term feasibility has been challenged. A 2024 report from the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) labelled sustainable fuels ‘a false solution’ that are impossible to scale effectively in line with net-zero emissions targets.
Meanwhile, Shell announced on 3 September 2025 announced that they were cancelling the construction of their flagship biomass fuel facility in the Netherlands. The oil and gas giant had already paused the project in 2024 due to technical difficulties, but will now shelve it entirely. Machteld de Haan, head of downstream, renewables and energy solutions at Shell, said:
As we evaluated market dynamics and the cost of completion, it became clear that the project would be insufficiently competitive to meet our customers’ need for affordable, low-carbon products.
With India preparing to scale SAF investment, the world will be watching closely to determine whether SAF can deliver on its promise to reduce emissions.
Join us at Aerospace Tech Week 2026 for our Sustainable Aerospace summit, where industry leaders will discuss the future of SAF and operational sustainability.
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by Elsie Clark | Sep 3, 2025 | AI & ML, Connectivity, Innovation
Researchers at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University have pioneered a new artificial intelligence (AI) system for transcribing aviation radio.
In the University’s dedicated Speech and Language AI Lab, the expert team have developed a voice-to-text system for use between pilots and controllers. Radio messaging has so far remained dependent on legacy technology. However, the Embry-Riddle project demonstrates how AI can be used to make communication in aerospace more effective and efficient. The team set out to produce a system that was aviation-specific and could transcribe technical messages accurately.
Andrew Schneider, an assistant professor in the College of Aviation and director of the Speech and Language AI Lab, noted:
Aviation English isn’t standard conversational grammar — it’s a condensed, highly specific phraseology spoken over a noisy radio where words get clipped and specialised jargon abound.
Their research found that radio communications from 12 US airports processed by generic automated speech recognition tools, such as OpenAI’s Whisper, resulted in an 80% word error rate. But Embry-Riddle’s specialised AI system can recognise acronyms and specific aviation-related phrases to produce significantly more accurate transcripts. This will help identify and prevent miscommunication, as well as improve student pilot training.
Kristy Kiernan, associate director of Embry-Riddle’s Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety, added:
In aviation, we have done a great job with using numerical data, but until now we haven’t had the tools to use qualitative data at the same scale. Large language models can open up whole new data sources that we can leverage to improve safety. That’s really exciting
In the future, Schneider and his research partner, Dr Jianhua Liu, want to develop the AI system into a smart co-pilot that can flag inconsistencies between verbal instructions and aircraft behaviour as they happen. This will improve the situational awareness of aircraft. Given that seven of the 20 deadliest aviation accidents were the result of communication errors, technological improvements in this area are essential for enhancing safety.
Join us at Aerospace Tech Week 2026, where we’ll be discussing how the aviation industry can advance connectivity and communications.
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