Tag: Allow

Hitachi Rail Successfully Tests First Battery-Powered Tram

February 2, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Battery-powered tram offers major benefits of requiring no overhead wires or other electrified infrastructure – saving on costs and visual impact

On-board batteries allow energy to be additionally recovered during breaking

Trial in Florence aims to allow mobility firm to offer battery-trams globally

Tram adds to the growing list of battery products being developed as Hitachi puts decarbonisation and sustainability at the heart of its global strategy

Hitachi Rail has successfully tested its first battery-powered tram in Florence – an important milestone towards expanding the firm’s offer to market the vehicles across the world.

While traditional tram lines require electrified infrastructure – usually overhead wires supported by poles or pylons – that are expensive to install and visually unattractive. Battery trams offer the opportunity to run high capacity public transport through city centres, while saving millions on installing wires and reducing the visual impact on beautiful historic streets, like Florence.

The trial involves installing battery packs on an existing Hitachi-built Sirio tram, which covered a section of the line under battery power. The innovation allows power to be returned to the batteries when the train breaks, reducing the overall amount of energy consumed and protecting the environment.

This news is the latest in a number of announcements from the global mobility firm as expands its sustainability credentials and its zero-carbon offer to its customers around the world. Hitachi recently announced the trial of a battery train in the UK and delivery of hybrid trains in Italy, having built one of the world’s first battery powered train fleets that operates in Japan.

Hitachi has a rich heritage of building trams and tramways in Europe and in Asia, and is involved in new tram and metro infrastructure projects in the Americas and in the UK.

Andrea Pepi, Head of Sales and Projects Italy, Hitachi Rail said: “Our aim is to use our technology and our work to help build a sustainable society and contribute to the well-being of people around the world by improving their quality of life.”

“This is a key milestone as we pioneer this new technology that allow us to work with our customers to reduce infrastructure costs while still offering environmentally-friendly public transport. We hope this successful trial in Italy creates new opportunities for us across the world.”

The Mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella said: “We are happy that Hitachi Rail has chosen the tramway in Florence to test this innovation. Battery-powered trams can revolutionize this type of service within cities. Public transport, especially in historic centers, will have to be less impactful and increasingly sustainable. This marks another significant step forward for the tramways in Florence.”

Boeing Responds to FAA Approval Resuming 737 MAX Operations

November 21, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today rescinded the order that halted commercial operations of Boeing (NYSE: BA) 737-8’s and 737-9’s. The move will allow airlines that are under the FAA’s jurisdiction, including those in the U.S., to take the steps necessary to resume service and Boeing to begin making deliveries.

“We will never forget the lives lost in the two tragic accidents that led to the decision to suspend operations,” said David Calhoun, chief executive officer of The Boeing Company. “These events and the lessons we have learned as a result have reshaped our company and further focused our attention on our core values of safety, quality and integrity.”

Throughout the past 20 months, Boeing has worked closely with airlines, providing them with detailed recommendations regarding long-term storage and ensuring their input was part of the effort to safely return the airplanes to service.

An Airworthiness Directive issued by the FAA spells out the requirements that must be met before U.S. carriers can resume service, including installing software enhancements, completing wire separation modifications, conducting pilot training and accomplishing thorough de-preservation activities that will ensure the airplanes are ready for service.

“The FAA’s directive is an important milestone,” said Stan Deal, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “We will continue to work with regulators around the world and our customers to return the airplane back into service worldwide.”

In addition to changes made to the airplane and pilot training, Boeing has taken three important steps to strengthen its focus on safety and quality.

Organizational Alignment: More than 50,000 engineers have been brought together in a single organization that includes a new Product & Services Safety unit, unifying safety responsibilities across the company.
Cultural Focus: Engineers have been further empowered to improve safety and quality. The company is identifying, diagnosing and resolving issues with a higher level of transparency and immediacy.
Process Enhancements: By adopting next-generation design processes, the company is enabling greater levels of first-time quality.

US & China to Allow 4 Weekly Flights Each for Airlines

June 15, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

Delta to fly next week

FILE PHOTO: Delta Air Lines passenger planes parked in Birmingham

(Reuters) – The United States and China will each allow four weekly flights between the two countries, the U.S. Transportation Department said on Monday, easing a standoff on travel restrictions in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. government still hopes China will agree to restore full U.S. flight rights under their bilateral aviation agreement, the Transportation Department said Monday in its revised order on China flights.

“As the Chinese government allows more flights by U.S. carriers, we will reciprocate,” it said.

The United States had threatened to bar Chinese passenger flights on June 16 due to Beijing’s curbs on U.S. airlines amid simmering tensions between the world’s two largest economies, and has raised concerns about the number of charter flights Chinese carriers want to fly.

Among U.S. airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines had each sought to restart daily passenger flights to China in June but changed their plans in the absence of government approval.

Following China’s agreement to allow four U.S. flights total, Delta said it would operate two flights to Shanghai from Seattle next week and once weekly flights from Seattle and Detroit beginning in July, all via Seoul.

United said it was aiming to re-launch service to China in the weeks ahead.

Chinese authorities have already agreed to some changes on requirements for U.S. carriers, including allowing temperature checks to be done before flights take off for China, rather than mid-flight as previously discussed, a person briefed on the matter said.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Grant McCool and Stephen Coates)

Air New Zealand Signs Government Deal to Provide World Cargo

May 4, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

The International Airfreight Capacity agreement with the Ministry of Transport will allow exporters and importers the ability to access key markets in a world where available air freight capacity is reduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Air New Zealand General Manager Cargo Rick Nelson says cargo customers will be able to access capacity across Air New Zealand’s traditional network, with a handful of exceptions.

“The new agreement means Air New Zealand can publish scheduled cargo services into key markets which will allow freight forwarders, exporters and importers to plan and operate their logistics supply chains with certainty.

“We are working to offer connectivity to and from the United Kingdom and Europe, as well as Houston and Chicago via Los Angeles and San Francisco, Hong Kong and Narita gateways.

“This agreement will add significant value to New Zealand’s air cargo community, and we encourage the New Zealand forwarding, export and import communities to get behind these cargo options. Naturally, we hope the need to operate under an agreement of this nature will be a short-term business model and in time we’ll be able to revert to our traditional model as demand for passenger travel begins to pick up.”

Ports the airline will not operate cargo flights to under the agreement are London and Buenos Aires. Singapore is also not included in the initial phase.

EmbraerX and Elroy Air Sign Agreement to Collaborate on Unmanned Air Cargo

January 8, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

EmbraerX, Embraer’s disruptive business subsidiary, announces its expansion into the commercial air cargo market, via a collaboration agreement with Elroy Air, at CES 2020. This collaboration will allow the companies to accelerate the unmanned air cargo market worldwide, leveraging Embraer’s 50 years of industry experience with Elroy Air’s bold new developments in autonomous aircraft systems.

“In order to stay the course of creating solutions that benefit humanity at large, we believe the cargo market is prime for an autonomous aircraft,” said Antonio Campello, President & CEO, EmbraerX. “Booming eCommerce is forcing the cargo market to grow and seek new solutions, creating a distinct need for more flexibility. Our holistic approach to accelerating this market will include working with Elroy Air and its Chaparral system, capable of delivering cargo (250-500 lbs) over distances up to 300 miles, as well as our work in associated services and air traffic management solutions.”

“Elroy Air aims to open a new chapter for the logistics market with point-to-point autonomous aerial cargo systems” said Dave Merrill, CEO of Elroy Air. “Elroy Air’s Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) cargo delivery aircraft, the Chaparral, will operate without airports or charging stations, and is optimized for freight with automated cargo loading and unloading. Our collaboration with EmbraerX will accelerate our path to deployment in commercial freight markets.”

This collaboration is part of EmbraerX’s multi-project approach to further develop the air mobility ecosystem and create the conditions for people and goods to move from A to B in a seamless and affordable way. Beyond cargo, EmbraerX is engaged in several projects, including the development of an Urban Air Mobility focused eVTOL, a tailored Urban Air Traffic Management (UATM) system and a fleet-agnostic business platform, designated Beacon, to streamline services.

Hong Kong to Allow Airlines to Keep Airport Slots Despite Cutting Capacity

November 28, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Nov 29 (Reuters) – Airlines that fly to and from Hong Kong will be able to keep their prized airport slots even if they temporarily cut capacity due to weak travel demand through March, according to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department.

Many airlines, including flagship home carrier Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, South African Airways and Malaysia’s AirAsia Group Bhd have cut flights to and from Hong Kong temporarily as a result of sometimes violent anti-government protests that have led to a sharp fall in tourist and business travel demand.

More than 5,800 people have been arrested since the unrest broke out in June over a proposal to allow extraditions to mainland China, the numbers grew in October and November as violence escalated.

Under more normal conditions, it is tough for airlines to get take-off and landing slots at Hong Kong’s airport because it lacks capacity until a third runway will come into operation in 2024.

A “use-it-or-lose-it” rule stipulates an airline normally only keeps slots out of historic precedence if it can demonstrate it used them at least 80% of the time in the previous airline scheduling season.

The current winter season, which began on Oct. 27, ends on March 28, 2020.

Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department said in a statement to Reuters on Thursday evening that in order to provide airlines with greater flexibility in aircraft deployment to deal with the fall in passenger demand, the “use-it-or-lose-it” rule had been temporarily suspended for the winter season.

Airport Authority Hong Kong reported declines in October of 13% in passengers and 6.1% in the number of inbound and outbound flights – the steepest falls since the unrest began.

(Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney Editing by Marguerita Choy)