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Boom Supersonic, the company building the world’s fastest airliner, kicked off construction of its Overture Superfactory today in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Overture Superfactory is a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility located on a 62-acre campus at the Piedmont Triad International Airport. This site will house the final assembly line, as well as test facility, and customer delivery center for Boom’s flagship supersonic airliner, Overture.“Today’s groundbreaking for the Overture Superfactory represents a significant step forward in building sustainable and accessible supersonic travel for the world,” said Kathy Savitt, President of Boom Supersonic. “This milestone is a shared one and we are deeply appreciative of the input, leadership, and support of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority, local community, and the state of North Carolina.”
By 2032, Boom will hire more than 2,400 workers at the Superfactory, and recruiting is already underway. North Carolina economists estimate that the full Boom manufacturing program will grow the state’s economy by at least $32.3 billion over 20 years. In addition to Boom’s job creation in the state, the company is creating over 200 internships for students in North Carolina public universities, community colleges, and trade schools to build the next generation of supersonic workers.
“Building on our legacy of ‘First in Flight,’ North Carolina is ready to partner with Boom Supersonic in leading the way to a fast and clean aviation future,” North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said. “Our economy is taking flight with a talented workforce and strong infrastructure ready for these new, good-paying jobs in innovation and aerospace.”
Boom selected North Carolina as the site for Overture aircraft manufacturing because of its large skilled talent pool, access to exceptional universities, community colleges, and technical schools, proximity to the Eastern Seaboard for supersonic flight testing over water and close proximity to several top-tier aerospace suppliers. North Carolina’s aerospace manufacturing sector has grown three-times faster than the national average over the past few years.
“It’s an exciting time to live in North Carolina and see the influx of innovative companies establish roots in our state. The high-paying and skilled jobs that Boom Supersonic will create will make a significant economic impact in the Triad and across the entire state,” said North Carolina Senate Leader Phil Berger.ADVERTISEMENT“Boom Supersonic continues to deliver on its commitments and is growing its presence in North Carolina, building excitement in the community,” said Paul Mengert, Chair of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority. “On behalf of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority and our board members, we congratulate Boom on this milestone for Overture.”
Throughout this year, Boom will focus on construction of the Overture Superfactory with BE&K Building Group and their design partner, BRPH. The building will be LEED certified in keeping with Boom’s commitment to environmental sustainability.
In 2024, Boom will install tooling, provided by Advanced Integration Technology (AIT), ahead of moving into the building and preparing the facility and staff for Overture production launch the same year.
Boom continues to complete critical program milestones including the unveiling of Symphony™, the new propulsion system designed and optimized for Overture, which also took place in Greensboro last month.

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Following a $175m agreement with Aviation Partners Boeing (APB), Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, has installed Split Scimitar Winglets to the first of over 400 of its Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircraft.This modification will improve aircraft fuel efficiency by up to 1.5%, reducing Ryanair’s annual fuel consumption by 65 million litres and carbon emissions by 165,000 tonnes.
As Ryanair grows to carry 225m passengers by FY26, this initiative will further the airline’s target of net-zero by 2050.
Ryanair’s Director of Sustainability, Thomas Fowler said:
“As Europe’s most environmentally efficient major airline, we are leading the way in sustainable aviation as demonstrated by this investment in our fleet. This winglet technology will help us reach our ambitious environmental targets on our pathway to net zero emissions by 2050. We are impressed with APB’s innovative winglet designs and look forward to having them installed on not just this first aircraft but on over 400 of our aircraft to further reduce our emissions.”
APB’s Chief Commercial Officer, Patrick LaMoria said:ADVERTISEMENT“Having the operator of the world’s largest fleet of 737-800 Next Generation aircraft install Split Scimitar Winglets is the ultimate endorsement of APB and its products. We are both humbled and honoured to continue to support Ryanair in their ambitious sustainability initiatives.”

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SkyTeam, the global airline alliance, has upgraded its innovative SkyPriority Panel Audit App for Elite Plus, First and Business Class customers. Travelers can now complete quick surveys rating their experience of 750 airport lounges, including SkyTeam-branded lounges in Dubai, Istanbul, Santiago de Chile, Sydney and Vancouver, as well as review SkyPriority touchpoints at more than 970 airports.Free to download from Google Play and the App Store, available in 16 languages and with a loyal community of users, the app empowers SkyTeam’s top travelers to share feedback at every step. Whether dropping a bag or waiting to board, each review takes less than 60 seconds and customers can add comments and photos.
“Customer insight is key. That’s why we have upgraded our innovative app to put more tools at customers’ fingertips, so they can tell SkyTeam what they think of each touchpoint on their airport journey,” said Christian Oberlé, SkyTeam’s Chief Experience Officer. “This combination of feedback and technology means we can work closely with our members to deliver a reshaped travel experience that exceeds customer expectations.”
How SkyTeam’s SkyPriority Panel Audit App works:
Elite Plus Frequent Flyers, First and Business Class customers download the app to their mobile phones and registerAs they navigate the airport, they use the app to answer speedy ‘yes/no’ surveys or add more detailed reviews and photosInformation is fed back to relevant member airlines and lounge teamsAudits are entirely voluntaryThe SkyPriority Panel Audit App is available in Arabic, Czech, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese.
Launched in March 2012, SkyPriority is an award-winning series of aligned priority airport services for Elite Plus, First and Business Class customers and is offered by every SkyTeam member at 970+ airports worldwide. Services include priority at check-in,​ bag drop, airport ticket offices, transfer desks, security and immigration (where available), boarding and baggage collection.ADVERTISEMENT

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NASA Administrator Bill Nelson holds a model of an aircraft with a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing during a news conference on NASA’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington, DC. Through a Funded Space Act Agreement, The Boeing company and its industry team will collaborate with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft.
NASA announced Wednesday it has issued an award to The Boeing Company for the agency’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, which seeks to inform a potential new generation of green single-aisle airliners.Under a Funded Space Act Agreement, Boeing will work with NASA to build, test, and fly a full-scale demonstrator aircraft and validate technologies aimed at lowering emissions.Over seven years, NASA will invest $425 million, while the company and its partners will contribute the remainder of the agreement funding, estimated at about $725 million. As part of the agreement, the agency also will contribute technical expertise and facilities.
“Since the beginning, NASA has been with you when you fly. NASA has dared to go farther, faster, higher. And in doing so, NASA has made aviation more sustainable and dependable. It is in our DNA,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “It’s our goal that NASA’s partnership with Boeing to produce and test a full-scale demonstrator will help lead to future commercial airliners that are more fuel efficient, with benefits to the environment, the commercial aviation industry, and to passengers worldwide. If we are successful, we may see these technologies in planes that the public takes to the skies in the 2030s.”
Single-aisle aircraft are the workhorse of many airline fleets, and due to their heavy usage, account for nearly half of worldwide aviation emissions. NASA plans to complete testing for the project by the late 2020s, so that technologies and designs demonstrated by the project can inform industry decisions about the next generation of single-aisle aircraft that could enter into service in the 2030s.
Through the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, Boeing and its industry team will partner with NASA to develop and flight-test a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing demonstrator aircraft.
The Transonic Truss-Braced Wing concept involves an aircraft with extra-long, thin wings stabilized by diagonal struts. This design results in an aircraft that is much more fuel efficient than a traditional airliner due to a shape that would create less drag – resulting in its burning less fuel.ADVERTISEMENT“NASA is working toward an ambitious goal of developing game-changing technologies to reduce aviation energy use and emissions over the coming decades toward an aviation community goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” said Bob Pearce, NASA associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. “The Transonic Truss-Braced Wing is the kind of transformative concept and investment we will need to meet those challenges and, critically, the technologies demonstrated in this project have a clear and viable path to informing the next generation of single-aisle aircraft, benefiting everyone that uses the air transportation system.”
NASA’s goal is that the technology flown on the demonstrator aircraft, when combined with other advancements in propulsion systems, materials, and systems architecture, would result in fuel consumption and emissions reductions of up to 30% relative to today’s most efficient single-aisle aircraft, depending on the mission.
Through separate efforts, NASA has worked with Boeing and other industry partners on advanced sustainable aviation concepts, including the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing concept.
“We’re honored to continue our partnership with NASA and to demonstrate technology that significantly improves aerodynamic efficiency resulting in substantially lower fuel burn and emissions,” said Todd Citron, Boeing chief technology officer. “Boeing has been advancing a multipronged sustainability strategy, including fleet renewal, operational efficiency, renewable energy, and advanced technologies to support the U.S. Aviation Climate Action Plan and meet the industry objective of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The Sustainable Flight Demonstrator builds on more than a decade of NASA, Boeing, and our industry partners’ investments to help achieve these objectives.”
The new Funded Space Act agreement allows NASA to capitalize on private industry knowledge and experience, with Boeing and its partners laying out a proposed technical plan. NASA will provide access to its aeronautics facilities and expertise. NASA will not procure an aircraft or any other hardware for its missions. The agency will obtain access to certain ground and flight data that can be used to validate the airframe configuration and associated technologies.
The Sustainable Flight Demonstrator will help the United States achieve net-zero carbon emissions from aviation by 2050 – one of the environmental goals articulated in the White House’s U.S. Aviation Climate Action Plan. The International Civil Aviation Organization also has set a goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The project is an activity under NASA’s Integrated Aviation Systems Program and a key element of the Sustainable Flight National Partnership, which focuses on developing new sustainable aviation technologies.
Learn more about NASA’s Sustainable Aviation efforts at:

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The UK Civil Aviation Authority has proposed to simplify the guidance for airspace change to help improve the process for airports, air navigation services and those affected by airspace change.Known as CAP1616, the regulator’s new proposals will make its guidance easier to understand and make the requirements of the stages, steps and gateways to request an airspace change clearer.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority also wants to make the process more proportionate and tailored to each proposal put forward.
First published in 2018, the regulator committed to review the CAP1616 process three years after its implementation.
Jon Round, Head of Airspace, Air Traffic Management and Aerodromes, said:
“Airspace change affects so many of us, and as an organisation we strive to keep learning and improving. Our proposals will go some way to making sure the airspace change process is easier to understand and that the requirements at each step are much clearer.ADVERTISEMENT“The engagement we have undertaken so far has been invaluable in understanding how the airspace change process can be improved, both for change sponsors and those affected by airspace change.
“This gives us the opportunity to reflect on feedback and make further improvements to the guidance.”
This review gives the Civil Aviation Authority the opportunity to reflect on the lessons learned following the implementation of CAP1616 and make further improvements to the airspace change process.
The improvements have been proposed following engagement with industry. The UK Civil Aviation Authority is now seeking views on its consultation on what the updated airspace change guidance will look like.

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Prince Sultan Aviation Academy (PSAA), a subsidiary of SAUDIA Group, and The Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC), represented by The National Center for Training Assessment and Accreditation “Masar”, have signed an agreement to implement institutional accreditation processesThe agreement, which was signed by Captain Ismael Koshy, CEO of PSAA, and Dr. Mohammad Al-Khairy, CEO of Masar, aims to implement the institutional accreditation processes for PSAA in accordance with the latest institutional accreditation standards set and approved by ETEC.
The PSAA is one of the most prestigious aviation training centers in the world. It has highly qualified staff with a wide range of expertise, as well as basic and professional quality programs that meet the latest international standards. 
The ETEC oversees evaluation, assessment, and accreditation of qualifications in the field of education and training in public and private sectors. It is responsible for raising the quality and efficiency of education, and thus enhance its contribution to the national economy and development.
Captain Koshy said: “This partnership will contribute to improving the quality of the outputs of PSAA’s specialized and advanced training programs. The Academy’s training base has expanded locally and internationally to excel in the field of aviation training due to its state-of-the-art facilities, advanced technological capabilities, and distinctive training programs delivered by a highly experienced team.”

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f.l.t.r.: Dominique Fehlmann (Head of Legal, Business Development & Corporate Responsibility SWISS), Dieter Vranckx (CEO SWISS), Dr. Philipp Furler (CEO & Founder Synhelion), Dr. Gianluca Ambrosetti (CEO & Founder Synhelion)
SWISS has acquired a financial interest in Swiss-based technology company Synhelion in a further step to help bring solar fuels to market.The investment further underlines SWISS’s firm commitment to sustainability and to helping accelerate the process of bringing solar fuels to market. Switzerland’s biggest airline is putting a particular focus on such fuels in view of their strong scalability. Synhelion’s technology also offers sizeable development potential, and holds many strategic advantages over other technological approaches. To take one example, the Synhelion plant’s inbuilt heat storage facility enables the plant to be operated 24/7 with no need to draw on further renewable energy from the existing electricity grid.
“Synhelion, SWISS and the Lufthansa Group have been collaborating very constructively on bringing solar fuels to market for the aviation sector for more than two years now,” explains SWISS CEO Dieter Vranckx. “And we are delighted that, with our new financial involvement, we can now make a further substantial contribution to helping Synhelion scale up and commercialize its innovative alternative fuel product.”
Synhelion will use the funds generated by this latest financing round to expand its solar fuel production plant to industrial dimensions and operate it accordingly. The company has also set itself an ambitious timetable for the scale-up concerned.
“Our strategic collaboration with SWISS and the Lufthansa Group and the synergies this generates are hugely valuable and enable us to tailor our technology, our products and our business model perfectly to the market,” says Philipp Furler, Synhelion’s co-founder and CEO. “It’s great to see SWISS and the Lufthansa Group underpin their confidence in Synhelion through this investment, and to see them lead the way in the aviation sector by making this key contribution to scaling up our production. And we’re delighted to welcome SWISS to our network of investors.”
Sustainable fuels essential to achieving aviation’s climate goalsADVERTISEMENTSustainable aviation fuels (SAF) such as Synhelion’s solar fuel are essential to the achievement of the ambitious climate goals within the aviation sector. So helping to bring such fuels to market in sufficient volumes is a top priority. Doing so will require new forms of alliances and collaborations. “In teaming up with Synhelion, we’re not only helping to bring solar fuels to market,” SWISS CEO Vranckx adds. “We’re promoting Swiss innovation, too.” 
Decades of commitment from the Lufthansa Group
As a member of the Lufthansa Group, SWISS is further building on decades of experience in trialling and using sustainable aviation fuels. By participating in research programmes, pilot projects and alliances, the Lufthansa Group has steadily accumulated an extensive expertise in SAF technologies and their market development. SWISS and the Lufthansa Group are also evolving specific SAF initiatives for their private customers and corporate clients to further accelerate and finance the refinement of these technologies and bring their products to market in sufficient quantities. The resulting volumes of SAF should help send tangible global signals of demand for such products in the form of long-term procurement agreements. The Lufthansa Group is presently Europe’s biggest user of sustainable aviation fuel.

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Digital customer experience agency Great State is marking twelve years of strategic digital partnership with Bristol Airport with the launch of their new website, transforming the digital experience for their customers.Bristol Airport is the fastest passenger recovering airport in the United Kingdom since the pandemic, forecast to register more than 8M passengers in 2022. For many, their first experience of the airport is the website which forms a crucial role in delivering the goal of seamless customer journeys.
The new website offers a new sleek modern design using best-in-breed technological solutions to improve speed, functionality and resilience. With the customer at the heart of the project, Great State carried out extensive user testing and research to guide and optimise the overall user experience for both desktop and mobile.
Isabelle Whiteman, Head of Marketing at Bristol Airport, says:
“We’re delighted to be launching our brand new website, bringing together a modern and fresh design with the introduction of new features and functionality to create an even more enjoyable user experience. Whether it’s to get inspiration for a trip away, find information before flying, or to simply book parking, our new website makes it even easier, quicker and with a significantly enhanced mobile experience”.
Built on the Umbraco CMS platform, new improved features include a trip finder tool for destination inspiration, real time information on arrivals and departures, as well as a new e-commerce landing page for booking airport parking.ADVERTISEMENTMatt Powell, Creative Director at Great State, says:
“Our strategic digital partnership with Bristol Airport has remained solid over the years, and therefore we were a clear choice to redesign and overhaul the digital customer experience of the whole website. Working closely with the Bristol Airport team we helped identify which components were most important to their customers, and originated a cleaner, clearer, more aspirational design system to bring them to life. Another benefit of this creative work is that it will bring consistency to the end-to-end digital customer journey, strengthening the digital presence of the Bristol Airport brand beyond the website”
The new website reflects not only 12 years of digital advancement, but also the strength of a local, strategic partnership that will continue to serve the South West for years to come.
It’s been a real collaborative project, working with Great State who have been our digital agency for over 10 years”, adds Isabelle. “They have transformed the design and user experience, creating an enjoyable experience for our customers and a robust platform from which we’ll continue to optimise and develop over the coming years.  We’re delighted with the end result”.

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