Hi Fly, a company that leases widebody aircraft, has made history by successfully landing the first ever Airbus A340 in Antarctica. Captain Carlos Mirpuri flew his crew from Cape Town to Antarctica and back, a journey that totaled 2,500 nautical miles, or just over five hours each way. The aircraft, officially called the Hi Fly 9H-SOL A340-313HGW (High Gross Weight, has a maximum take-off weight of 275 tons. Read more for a video, additional pictures and information.
Revealed at the 2021 Dubai Airshow, the Explorer by Lufthansa Technik Design is essentially a new wide-body VIP cabin concept that can be considered a luxury superyacht for the sky. It’s fitted on an Airbus A330 since it has a classic wide-body design, complete with sufficient space for a large number of novel cabin ideas as well as the long range required to fulfill the special wishes of the target group. Read more for a short video, additional pictures and information.
Airbus officially unveiled its next-generation CityAirbus eVTOL aircraft at the company’s first summit on “Pioneering Sustainable Aerospace” in Toulouse, France. This fully electric aircraft comes equipped with fixed wings, a V-shaped tail, and eight electrically powered propellers, which are a part of its uniquely designed distributed propulsion system. The CityAirbus will be able to comfortably transport up to four passengers in a zero emissions flight in multiple applications. Read more for a video, additional pictures and information.
First unveiled last year, the Airbus MAVERIC Model Aircraft for Validation and Experimentation of Robust Innovative Controls) boasts a blended wing design that could potentially reduce fuel consumption by up to 20% compared to current single-aisle aircraft. It’s powered by hydrogen, which can be combusted directly through modified gas turbines using a process that converts it into electric energy with fuel cells. When hydrogen is combined with CO2, it can be used to produce synthetic kerosene. Read more for a video, additional pictures and information.
ESA’s European Robotic Arm (ERA) has been loaded onto the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) by Airbus space engineers and it’s now ready for its flight to the International Space Station (ISS). It will take one-week to reach the ISS, where it will service the Russian segment of the space station. Measuring 11.3 meters long, the symmetrical, two-handed intelligent robot arm can ‘walk’ around the exterior of the ISS, hand-over-hand from one fixed base-point to another. Read more for two videos and additional information.
Aeroflot, the Russian flag carrier and member of the SkyTeam alliance, has just received its first A350-900, becoming the launch operator of the latest-generation widebody aircraft in Eastern Europe and CIS. Fetauring a distinctive new livery that embraces its almost 100-year heritage, 28 private Business Class suites with full-flat seats, 24 Comfort Class with extra legroom and 264 Economy Class. Plus, each seat comes equipped with a Panasonic eX3 in-flight entertainment system, HD screens and Wi-Fi connectivity/ Read more for two videos and additional information.
Here’s a first look at the ACH130 Aston Martin Edition, the first helicopter from the recently-announced partnership between Aston Martin Lagonda and Airbus Corporate Helicopters. This luxurious aircraft comes equipped with a range of four interior and exterior designs generated by Aston Martin and are modeled after the automaker’s high performance bespoke luxury cars. Each one of these special edition helicopters will have a plaque included on the instrument panel to denote the partnership logos, the registration of the aircraft, the edition number and the owner’s name, should they wish to have it included. Read more for additional pictures and information.