Electric aircraft startup Pyka has received approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate its uncrewed zero-emissions aircraft commercially in the US, the company announced Tuesday. The aircraft, called Pelican Spray, is a highly automated, 1,125-pound crop sprayer, the largest ever uncrewed aircraft system to receive FAA authorization for commercial operation in the US, according to COO and co-founder Chuma Ogunwole. The Oakland-based company currently leases its battery-operated aircraft to agricultural and crop-spraying companies in Costa Rica, Honduras and Brazil, helping spray pesticides and fungicides for crops like bananas, cotton, soy and corn. With FAA approval in place, it plans on expanding to farms in the US. Getting FAA authorization for passenger aircrafts is a long and difficult process and a significant hurdle for the electric aviation industry. The main challenge to electrifying commercial passenger aviation, though, is the limitations of battery technology that make it infeasible to fly any meaningful distance with multiple passengers onboard. For context, Pyka’s small, uncrewed crop sprayers need to land every 15 minutes anyway to refill their chemical tanks, which is also when their batteries are swapped. The crafts are able to carry up to 540 pounds of liquid.<br/>
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Turkey's banking watchdog has stopped allowing credit card payments by instalment for foreign travel, such as flights, travel agency fees and accommodation, in a step seen dealing a blow to foreign travel operators. The move, which hit airline shares and was seen as curbing foreign currency outflows, was one of two measures announced by the BDDK watchdog late on Monday, which it said were among coordinated steps to strengthen financial stability. Tourism operators say they have been hit in recent years by a cost-of-living crisis and weakness in the lira, which has lost half its value against the dollar since end-2021, with travellers commonly using credit cards to finance trips. "Almost all of my clients were paying by instalments," said Cem Polatoglu, spokesman of a tour operators' platform, noting an average trip for two cost around 50,000 lira ($1,850). "The number of people who can pay this amount in one go is very few." "The logic (of the step) is 'citizens shouldn't go abroad and spend foreign currency'," he said, adding that the foreign travel sector was also being hit by increasing difficulties faced by Turks in securing tourist visas. Polatoglu forecast a sharp fall in the numbers going abroad after a surge in spending by Turkish citizens abroad in the first half of the year to $3.17b - an 84% increase from the same period in 2022 - with such spending facilitated by credit card outlays. The credit card move also had an impact on airline share prices, with Turkish Airlines dipping 1.3% and the airline Pegasus dropping 2.3%. Istanbul's main BIST-100 index was 0.4% lower.<br/>
A full recovery of Hong Kong’s aviation industry is “in sight”, the city’s financial chief has said, as he revealed officials were already discussing new air service agreements with other parts of the world in a drive to restore global connectivity. “The end of the pandemic has breathed life back into the aviation sector, the Greater Bay Area is rapidly catching up and full recovery is now in sight,” Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po told industry players on Wednesday. The bay area refers to Beijing’s ambitious plan to integrate Hong Kong, Macau, and nine mainland Chinese cities into an economic powerhouse. The minister was speaking at the opening of a two-day event hosted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the city’s airport, which is run by the Airport Authority. The authority had earlier projected passenger traffic would return to 80% of pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, and set its sights on a full recovery by the close of 2024. The IATA in July revised its own projection for Hong Kong’s aviation recovery and predicted the city would reach pre-pandemic passenger levels by the end of next year, three years sooner than previously expected. Chan on Wednesday said the government was looking “to power [Hong Kong’s] recovery and connection with the world”, which included negotiating new air service agreements and expanding existing ones with its civil aviation partners in Asia and around the globe.<br/>
Flights were cancelled and tens of thousands of people were advised to evacuate their homes on Tuesday as powerful typhoon Khanun approached Japan's southern Okinawa island chain, threatening torrential rains and high winds through Thursday. Residents in a wide swathe of the tropical prefecture, a popular tourist destination some 1,600 km (1,000 miles) southwest of Tokyo, were advised to evacuate as the storm, with winds exceeding 200 kph (more than 145 mph), slowly moved northwest. In Okinawa's capital Naha, the airport was closed and all flights - amounting to about 900 - cancelled, TV Asahi said. At least 20,000 people were also affected by evacuation advisories in the city, officials said. Wind and rain were picking up on Tuesday evening, with the storm expected to escalate by Wednesday. The storm's path remained unpredictable, with some meteorologists saying it could affect eastern China later this week, while public broadcaster NHK said it could turn east, potentially affecting Japan's main islands. The storm is hitting during the peak summer tourist season, which this year has seen the number of visitors return to pre-pandemic levels. Okinawa is frequently hit by typhoons, but usually later in the year. <br/>
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is concerned about slot capacity at international airports as more flights are set to resume in the upcoming high season, particularly from long-haul markets with an estimated 8m tourists expected this year. Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, TAT deputy governor for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas, said the agency remained upbeat about the rebound in international tourism, following overall flight resumption of more than 70% of the level recorded in 2019. The long haul markets that TAT expects for this year include at least 6m visitors from the Middle East. Mr Siripakorn said that while ground handling issues have been gradually improving, the concerns now are with crowded flight slots in the high season or cool season, as the resumption of flights is forecast to reach 85% of the level recorded in 2019 due to a growing number of airlines applying for the new slots available at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport and Phuket International Airport. As Bangkok and Phuket are already packed, he said the agency would encourage airlines to consider other international airports in popular tourism provinces such as Surat Thani, U-Tapao (Rayong), Krabi and Chiang Mai, to disperse the flow of tourists from airports that are currently overcrowded. The TAT last week signed a letter of intent with the Taiwan-based carrier EVA Air in an effort to increase the number of travellers coming to Thailand via the airline's network. EVA Air is operating 28 direct flights per week between Taipei and Bangkok. Half of them can directly connect to three European cities -- London, Amsterdam and Vienna.<br/>
A new report concludes that fuel-cell powered ATR and De Havilland Canada turboprops could have enough range to cover most typical turboprop routes – but only when carrying far fewer passengers. For that reason, airlines using such modified turboprops – the designs for which remain unproven and in development – would need to operate many more flights to fill the same market demand, according to the report from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). Released on 2 August, ICCT’s study also predicts that hydrogen fueling costs will decline substantially in the coming decades. It says fuel cells using liquid hydrogen – which must be kept colder than -253°C (-423°F), posing another challenge – would provide more range than those using hydrogen gas. “A fossil-fuelled turboprop aircraft retrofitted with hydrogen storage and fuel-cell propulsion is more energy efficient and less carbon intensive, but more expensive to fuel,” says ICCT, which has offices in Washington, DC. “It would have lower payload and range capabilities but would reduce [greenhouse gas] emissions by 88%.” A handful of companies are working to bring hydrogen-powered aircraft to market, describing hydrogen – which emits water when converted to energy – as the aviation’s industry’s carbon-cutting solution. Engines can be made to burn hydrogen as fuel, or fuel cells can use hydrogen to produce electricity to power motors. Players include US firm ZeroAvia, which is developing fuel-cell propulsion systems for aircraft and has flight-tested its system using a modified Dornier 228. Another, Universal Hydrogen, has test flown a Dash 8 powered partly by fuel cells and is also developing the modification for ATRs. In the UK, Cranfield Aerospace Solutions is developing a fuel-cell conversion for a Britten-Norman BN2 Islander. Despite optimism, large technical, practical and infrastructure challenges remain. <br/>