Melbourne, Florida, September 20, 2021 – Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions and Helipass, SAS, today announced a new collaboration to accelerate and deploy electrical vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, also known in the market as EVA (Electrical Vertical Aircraft), across France and Europe. The partnership aims to fly Eve’s electric aircraft for a total of 50,000 flight hours per year. This could lead to an optional increase of 100,000 annual flight hours across Helipass’ network.
Helipass plans to open digital bookings on its platform to offer an innovative and seamless user experience to customers throughout its network. To support the expansion of this partnership, Eve will work with Helipass to develop training, on-site support, and technical publications to facilitate the launch of EVA commercial operations.
Following the commercial introduction of the EVA, which is planned for 2026, both companies will endeavor to launch Eve’s EVA aircraft across Helipass’ markets. These flights will include sightseeing, city and airport transfers, as well as a growing on-demand service.
Both parties will look into growing the service beyond this agreement to include additional use cases, as well as the requisite services needed to support the scalability of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) products in Helipass’ core markets.
SAS has selected CFM International LEAP-1A engines to power its new fleet of 35 A320neo family aircraft ordered in 2018. This agreement also includes eight spare engines. In addition, SAS has signed with CFM a Rate-Per-Flight-Hour (RPFH) support agreement to cover its new fleet of LEAP-1A engines, including spares, as well as 15 additional LEAP-1A-powered A320neo on lease.
This new agreement is part of SAS’ fleet upgrade program that aims to improve efficiency and sustainability performances. SAS has been at the forefront of introducing technologies that reduce the impact of aviation on the environment, as well as choosing efficient engines to power its fleet.
SAS was a launch customer for CFM’s advanced LEAP-1A engine that it selected in 2011 to power the first batch of 30 A320neo. SAS currently operates 44 A320neo aircraft and 1 A321neo LR powered by the fuel-efficient LEAP engine and plans to introduce two additional A321neo LR.In total SAS orders for purchased and leased aircraft placed in 2011 and 2018 will enable SAS to increase the fleet of A320neo to 80.
CFM International’s advanced LEAP-1A engine continues to set a new industry standard for fuel efficiency and asset utilization, logging more than seven million engine flight hours in commercial operations. The fleet is demonstrating a 15 percent better fuel consumption and CO2 reductions as well as a significant improvement in noise emissions compared to the best CFM56 engines.
German flag carrier Lufthansa and German national railway Deutsche Bahn have reached agreement on a long-festering dispute concerning an air cargo cartel.
The settlement was announced Aug. 26, although details are being kept confidential by mutual agreement.
The settlement ends a dispute before the Cologne regional court that has been ongoing since 2013.
Settling parties are DB Barnsdale, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, and Lufthansa Group member companies Lufthansa Cargo, Swiss International Air Lines and Deutsche Lufthansa.
OSLO (JULY 11, 2019) – After 17 years as the CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle, Bjørn Kjos will leave the position and continue in a new role as an advisor to the Chairman, with effect from July 11th. Until Norwegian appoints a new CEO, CFO Geir Karlsen will act as interim CEO, while Chairman Niels Smedegaard will take on a more active role in the management.
“I am very pleased Bjørn will remain at the company as an advisor to the Board and the Chair. As Norwegian moves from growth to profitability, it will be an advantage for the company to benefit from Bjørn’s extensive network, in-depth knowledge of and experience with global aviation. We have already started the process of recruiting a permanent new CEO,” said Niels Smedegaard, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Norwegian.
“I am confident that the Board of Directors will find the best qualified successor to lead the next chapters of the Norwegian story together with the top management team. Leaving the exciting future tasks to a new CEO and taking on a new challenge as an advisor, is a set-up I am very happy with. I look forward to spending more time working on specific strategic projects that are crucial to the future success of Norwegian,” said Bjørn Kjos.
Bjørn Kjos is one of the founders of Norwegian Air Shuttle. During his tenure as CEO, the company has developed from a small domestic operation with 130 employees and four aircraft to a global and award-winning low-cost airline with more than 11,000 employees and 162 aircraft.
“Bjørn has played an unprecedented role in Norwegian’s success. His vision of offering affordable fares for all, combined with his enthusiasm and innovating spirit, has revolutionized the way people travel for pleasure and for business, not least between the continents. Bjørn is definitely one of the most influential European entrepreneurs of our time,” Smedegaard said.
Following a demanding period of financial and operational challenges, fueled by significant investments, Norwegian changed its strategy from growth to profitability in 2018. Going forward, the company will harvest from its rapid global growth and investments. Running a profitable business and boosting company value to the benefit of shareholders, customers and employees will be key for the CEO going forward.
“We have to ensure that Norwegian is well prepared and positioned to handle volatile markets and unexpected events. It is crucial that we continue to deliver on our cost reduction initiatives and that we constantly ensure that we have a route portfolio that yields profit. It is also important that the new CEO develops an organization that embraces continued improvement and operational excellence,” Smedegaard added.
Niels Smedegaard Niels Smedegaard (born 1962) was the President and CEO of DFDS from 2007 to 2019. He has previously held leading positions in companies such as Gate Gourmet Group, Swissair and SAS. Smedegaard is a Danish citizen and holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree from Copenhagen Business School. He also holds a number of board appointments at various European companies. Niels Smedegaard has been elected Chairman of the Board of Norwegian for the period 2019 to 2021.
Bjørn Kjos Bjørn Kjos (born 1946) has been the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Norwegian since October 2002. He is one of the founding partners of Norwegian Air Shuttle and was the Chairman of the Board from 1993 to 1996. Kjos was also Chairman during the start-up of the Boeing 737 operation from June to September 2002. Kjos was a fighter pilot in the 334 squadron for six years and is a law graduate from the University of Oslo. He was granted the right of audience in the Supreme Court in 1993.
Geir Karlsen Geir Karlsen (born 1965) was appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in April 2018 and deputy CEO in April 2019. He has extensive experience from listed companies within shipping and offshore. Geir Karlsen has over the last 12 years held various CFO positions with international companies such as Golden Ocean Group and Songa Offshore. Before joining Norwegian, he was Group CFO at London-based Navig8 Group, the world’s largest independent pool and management company. Karlsen has a degree in Business Administration from BI Norwegian Business School.
Immediately following the presentation of the results for the second quarter, Norwegian will arrange a press briefing with Niels Smedegaard, Bjørn Kjos and Geir Karlsen about the top management changes. The presentation of the results and the press conference will take place at Felix Conference Center, Bryggetorget 3. The Q2 results presentation starts at 08:30, Central European Time.
The Caravelle was the first jet powered airliner to be commercially operated for the short and medium range air travel market. Development was started in the early 1950’s by French aircraft company SNCASE that was looking to produce a new jet powered passenger aircraft. SNCASE decided to form partnerships with the British companies De Havilland and Rolls-Royce. De Havilland contributed its design expertise and cockpit layout from its Comet jetliner. Rolls-Royce would provide its Avon turbojet engine to power the new Caravelle. SNCASE would be merged into Sud Aviation prior to the Caravelle entering revenue service in April of 1959.
The first Caravelle prototype took to the skies in May of 1955, followed by the second in May of 1956. The airliner received its first order from Air France in 1956, followed by an order from SAS in 1957. The Caravelle received certification in May of 1959, and embarked on its first flight with Scandinavian operator SAS in April of 1959. Service with Air France began soon afterwards, and the Caravelle was on its way. Five years later, a total of 172 Caravelles around the globe, including operations by U.S. air carrier United Airlines. United Airlines operated the the Caravelle VI.R model, which had been upgraded with Rolls-Royce Avon 352 engines with thrust reversers, an improved windshield design, added soundproofing, a new luggage compartment door, and wing spoilers.
While the first six variants of the Caravelle could carry up to 80 passengers, later models starting with the model 10B were stretched to improve the seating capacity to as many as 140 passengers. Based on the Series 10A, The model 10B increased the passenger capacity to 105, and introduced the leading edge extension. The wing mount split flaps and fuselage were extended by a length of 1.40 m (4 ft 7 in), and was equipped with the new Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbofan engines. The first 10B flew in August of 1964, with 22 of the aircraft produced. The final version of the aircraft was the model 12, which was referred to as the “Super Caravelle”, and first flew in March of 1971. The Series 12 was an updated version of the 10B, with the fuselage stretched by 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in), and a newer version of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D engine. This increased the seating capacity to as many as 140 passengers.
