American Airlines has agreed to purchase 20 supersonic Overture planes from Boom Supersonic, the companies announced Tuesday. The deal is the second firm order in the last two years for Boom, still years from building its first commercial airplane. United Airlines made a commitment last year to buy 15 Overture jets. “Passengers want flights that are faster, more convenient, more sustainable and that’s what Overture delivers,” Boom CEO Blake Scholl said. “Flight times can be as little as half as what we have today, and that works great in networks like American where we can fly Miami to London in less than five hours.” Boom says the Overture jet will fly as fast as Mach 1.7, or 1,304 mph, dramatically cutting trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific flight times. For example, a flight from Seattle to Tokyo, which typically takes just over 10 hours, could be completed in six hours in an Overture, according to Boom. “Supersonic travel will be an important part of our ability to deliver for our customers,” American’s CFO, Derek Kerr, said in a statement announcing the order. American is paying Boom an undisclosed amount as a nonrefundable deposit. The airline also has the option to purchase another 40 Overtures in the future. Boom says its supersonic planes will carry 65 to 80 passenger while flying on sustainable aviation fuel offering lower emissions. Still, Overture is years away from becoming a reality. Boom will build the jet at a new manufacturing plant in North Carolina and expects to roll out the first model in 2025, with the first flight in 2026. If the flight tests and certification process goes as scheduled, Boom says the Overture will enter commercial service by the end of the decade.<br/>
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British Airways and Iberia owner IAG has converted a loan to the parent company of Air Europa into a 20% stake in the airline. IAG had in mid-March agreed to loan Globalia E100m over seven years in a deal that gave the pan-European group exclusivity on rights to purchase the Spanish airline and the option to convert the loan to a 20% stake. IAG CFO Nicholas Cadbury confirmed on 16 August that it has exercised that option. The group had struck a pre-pandemic deal to buy the whole of Air Europa’s share capital, but the acquisition fell through late last year amid EC competition concerns. IAG suggested in May that the 20% stake was unlikely to be a concern for competition authorities, however, given “the level of overlap in the countries that we are working is not very high”, according to CE Luis Gallego. Gallego added that the group retained the ambition to eventually take full control of Air Europa, ”because that is the way to capture the synergies” and ”to develop the Madrid hub”.<br/>
Royal Jordanian Airlines is sponsoring the inaugural City Talk, a forum for Arab influencers due to take place in Jordan in early October, the Jordan News Agency reported on Tuesday. The airline said that it will also serve as official carrier for the forum’s guests from across the region. The event is being organized by the Jordan Tourism Board and Omnes Media, a digital-media and communications platform based in Dubai. Royal Jordanian CEO Samer Majali said the airline’s sponsorship of the event reflects its vision and desire to support all initiatives and events that promote Jordan. He added that by attracting social media content creators and marketing industry professionals from across the Arab world, the forum will help to market the culture and heritage of Jordan and its tourism sector.<br/>
CAE and Qantas have signed an agreement for a new pilot training centre in Sydney, Australia. The new centre will be located near Sydney airport and provide training for up to 4,500 new and current Qantas and Jetstar pilots from early 2024, says Qantas. The centre will be operated by CAE under a 15-year agreement. The centre will have up to eight full motion simulators for four Airbus and two Boeing types covering the A320, A330, A350, A380, 737-800, and 787. In addition, it will have flight training devices for the A330, A380, and 787. Neither party disclosed a value for the training centre, but Qantas refers to it as a “multi-million-dollar facility.” Qantas and Jetstar captains will provide training at the centre, while CAE will maintain the simulators and manage day-to-day operations. CAE will also provide training for other carriers at the facility. The training provider will deploy a new A320 simulator at the centre, and purchase Qantas’s 737, 787, and A330 full motion simulators. In 2021, Qantas shifted its simulators to Brisbane and Melbourne to make way for roadworks in Sydney. “Qantas has trained its pilots and crew in Sydney for more than half a century and we look forward to bringing this critical function back to New South Wales with this custom-built facility,” says Qantas CE Alan Joyce. “Sydney will be the launch city for our non-stop flights to London and New York, and will now be the home of pilot training for the A350s, which will operate these flights from 2025. As our international network recovers from the impact of COVID and we grow our fleet, this new training centre will give us the simulator capacity to train our new and current pilots.”<br/>