United Airlines and five corporate partners are launching a venture capital fund to invest in startup firms and technology developing and expanding the availability of sustainable aviation fuel, commonly referred to as SAF. The United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund will start with $100m invested by United Airlines, Air Canada, Boeing, GE Aerospace, JPMorgan Chase and Honeywell. The announcement comes as the aviation industry pushes to cut greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet more restrictive pollution standards. “This fund is unique. It’s not about offsets or things that are just greenwashing. Instead, we’re creating a system that drives investment to build a new industry around sustainable aviation fuel, essentially from scratch,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in a release announcing the fund. SAF, which is made using feedstocks that include used cooking oil and agricultural waste, is widely viewed as the aviation industry’s best option for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The challenge is figuring out how to increase the supply of SAF while lowering the cost. Currently, the supply of SAF is limited and it is typically two to four times more expensive than jet fuel. As a result, airlines looking to cut their greenhouse gas emissions face two hurdles. Many airports do not have a steady, readily available supply of SAF to fuel planes. And if they do, the cost is considerably higher than using jet fuel. The Inflation Reduction Act, signed last year by President Joe Biden, includes a blended fuels tax credit as an incentive for the development and use of SAF. The United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund will allow United and the other inaugural investors the chance to play a larger role in startups developing and expanding access to SAF. Partners in the fund will also be eligible for access to environmental attributes that will go with United’s supply of SAF.<br/>
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Croatian investigators believe a late shift in tailwind preceded an SAS Airbus A320neo’s loss of lift just before touchdown in Split, leading to a tail-strike. The aircraft, arriving from Bergen, had been stabilised during an ILS approach to runway 05. But winds were varying from 170-245°, and a 10kt change in tailwind gradient occurred as the jet descended below 70ft. This caused the aircraft to lose lift and, although the crew commanded more nose-up pitch at 55ft, the descent rate increased to 650ft/min. Pitch continued to increase in the final 25ft, triggering an automatic call-out as it reached 13° and prompting a nose-down command. Runway contact occurred with an impact of 1.65g and the aircraft started to pitch up again – which the inquiry attributes to flight-control laws responding after the angle-of-attack protection system activated just before touchdown. The pitch increased to 13.4° – generating another call-out – and the aircraft’s tail struck the runway surface. None of the 174 occupants on the A320neo was injured during the incident, on 4 September 2021, but the jet sustained tail-scrape damage, mainly between frames 68 and 72. Investigators from the Croatian accident investigation agency have cited the tailwind change and “flight technique” as having contributed to the event.<br/>
Aviation services provider Aviator Airport Alliance has secured a five-year contract from Lufthansa Group for ground handling and de-icing/anti-icing services. Under the agreement, Aviator will provide the services at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport to Deutsche Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines, and Austrian Airlines, which are airlines under the Lufthansa Group. Lufthansa Group Northern Central Europa regional manager Sven Thaler said: “After our successful collaboration in Copenhagen and Gothenburg, we look forward to expanding our collaboration with Aviator in Scandinavia. “This strengthens the position and brand presence of the Lufthansa Group in Stockholm-Arlanda.” The contract will come into effect from May 2023 and cover nearly 111 turnarounds a week for the group. Aviator, which is part of Avia Solutions Group, has been providing ground handling services ranging from passenger and baggage handling to de-icing, cargo, and full-freight handling.<br/>
Singapore Airlines posted record profits in its latest business update, thanks to strong air travel demand and a reopening of international borders. The airline group posted a net profit of $628m for the third quarter of its financial year ending March 30, 2023, adding up to a record $1.56b net profit for the nine months between April and December 2022. The figures were 12.7% up from the previous year’s Q3 profit of $557m, and a reversal from the $752m loss in the period from April to September 2021. This came on the back of an 8% year-on-year rise in Q3 revenue to $4.85b, adding up to topline growth of 158% to $13.26b for the nine months. The company’s balance sheet remained strong. As at Dec 31, 2022, the group’s shareholder equity was $19.4b, a reduction of $3b following a redemption of its June 2020 mandatory convertible bonds. Total debt was up $4b to $16.1b, mainly due to sale and leaseback activity. The group’s debt-equity ratio rose from 0.7 times to 0.83 times. Cash and bank balances rose from $1.6b to $15.4b. The group also retained access to $2.2b of committed lines of credit, but this has yet to be drawn. All this came on the back of robust demand and record passenger load factors across all cabin classes and routes. As at Dec 31, SIA’s route network, which includes that of its low-cost airline Scoot, comprised 111 destinations in 36 countries and territories including Singapore, versus 137 destinations in 37 countries and territories before the pandemic. <br/>
Singapore Airlines’ historic profitability is back. This has helped boost the carrier’s confidence in the future, underpinning some audacious moves to maintain — and expand — its position as a leading global airline. The carrier posted a 16% operating margin in the December quarter, the third in its fiscal year that ends in March; that bested its performance during the first six months of its fiscal year by a point. Singapore Airlines was lifted by fuel hedge gains, without which its operating margin was 12%, but even that was two points better than three years earlier. It reported an operating profit of S$755m ($565m) for the three months ending in December. What’s more, Singapore Airlines posted record revenues of S$4.8b, up 6.7% year-over-three-years, in the December quarter. Unit revenues, measured by revenue per available seat kilometer, also set a record at 10.8 Singapore dollar cents, or up nearly 33 percent compared to 2019. Cargo was one area of weakness for Singapore Airlines. Revenues and yields decreased in the December quarter from the quarter before with the carrier citing a weaker global macroeconomic environment, as well as the increase in aircraft belly capacity. However, cargo yields were still more than double what they were three years earlier. Set against the backdrop of strong financial results, not to mention a bullish outlook, Singapore Airlines made a number of deals looking toward its future. The most significant was an agreement in November with the Tata Group to take a 25.1% stake in Air India in exchange for the group’s minority stake in Vistara and S$360m. Singapore Airlines has repeatedly cited the deal as key to its direct participation in the “large and fast-growing” Indian market. Air India committed to at least 470 Airbus and Boeing aircraft earlier in February in the airline’s largest-ever order.<br/>