United Airlines is aiming to have electric aircraft flying regional routes by the end of the decade, part of the company’s goal to fully reduce its carbon footprint to net zero by 2050. Those battery-powered aircraft are being developed by Swedish start-up Heart Aerospace, from which United placed an order for 100 planes in July 2021. United also invested an undisclosed amount in the company through its venture funding arm at the time of the deal. United has pushed heavily into a variety of lower-emission forms of aviation, not only announcing plans to buy electric air taxis and vertical aircraft, as well as hydrogen-electric engines but also investing in the companies behind the burgeoning technologies. “We cannot continue doing and operating our business the way we do; it is imperative that we change it, and the way we’re going to change it is through investing in technology,” Mike Leskinen, United Airlines Ventures president, said Thursday. “Existing technology is going to either cause us to fly less, which is an unacceptable alternative, or continue with a carbon footprint, which we believe is equally unacceptable,” Leskinen said. Heart Aerospace, which recently redesigned what will be its first electric aircraft which is now called the ES-30, plans to have the planes enter service in 2028, said Anders Forslund, the company’s CEO and founder. The 30-passenger planes will be driven by electric motors with battery-derived energy, allowing the planes to have a fully electric range of 200km. The planes will also include a reserve-hybrid engine powered by sustainable aviation fuel, allowing it to have an extended range of up to 400km with a full flight. Heart Aerospace, which has also taken purchase orders from Air Canada, Mesa Air Group and Icelandair, has received investments from Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and EQT Ventures. Leskinen said those short routes are United’s initial view for how the technology will be utilized, with Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Denver International Airport being viewed as key markets for the first batch of aircraft.<br/>
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Austrian Airlines is to reconfigure its Boeing 777-200ER fleet, shifting the balance away from business-class accommodation in favour of premium-economy. It will remove six business-class seats from each of its six aircraft, in order to increase accommodation in the other cabins. Austrian’s 777s are currently fitted with 306 seats comprising 38 in business-class, 24 in premium-economy and 244 in economy. But the carrier says it is seeing an “increasing demand” for premium-economy travel, and will expand this cabin to 40 seats. It will also fit another 14 economy-class seats to each aircraft. Austrian tells FlightGlobal that it will remove six business seats as part of the reconfiguration, giving an overall net increase of 144 seats across the 777 fleet. The Lufthansa Group airline says its premium-economy cabin has “become a product highlight” with “increasing popularity” among both leisure and business passengers. “By modifying our long-haul fleet, we are meeting the growing demand for more travel comfort,” says Austrian chief commercial officer Michael Trestl. Austrian will start the refit early next year and complete the change across the fleet by May 2023.<br/>
Polish flag-carrier LOT is to introduce another six Boeing 737 Max 8s, more than doubling its fleet of the re-engined type. All six aircraft are being source on long-term operating lease from US company Air Lease. LOT is to take delivery of all the twinjets in October, the airline states. One of them will be taken directly from the Boeing facility in Seattle. The carrier is undertaking a fleet modernisation programme but, while it evaluates options for regional and single-aisle replacement, it is sourcing aircraft as a “bridging solution”, says LOT chief operating officer Maciej Wilk. Its decision follows the suspension of operations by Romanian carrier Blue Air, whose fleet included 737 Max 8s from Air Lease. LOT will bring in the first of the additional Max 8s in mid-October to serve European routes from Warsaw. It already has five Max 8s from Air Lease – as well as a Boeing 787 – and the expansion will take LOT’s Max fleet to 11. LOT has also been increasing the size of its Embraer regional jet fleet, while it weighs various options – including the Airbus A220 and Embraer E2 family – for a broader fleet renewal.<br/>