Ned Dawson

The New Zealand (Aotearoa) Emerging Aviation Technologies Forum (EATF) held a well-attended meeting on 1 May at CAA's national office in Wellington. The Forum is building knowledge to anticipate which aviation technologies are the most likely to enter the New Zealand aviation system in the next ten years, what the regulatory impacts might be, and what it means for industry and the aviation system more generally. Prioritising effort is vitally important, as the three aviation regulatory bodies involved - CAA, Ministry of Transport and the New Zealand Defence Force - are resource constrained. The Forum has identified the following areas for closer examination: High Altitude Pseudo Satellites (HAPS) and Space Planes; Digital Towers and Uncrewed Traffic Management (UTM); Cyber Protected Systems and Evolved Conventional Aircraft (Electric). The Forum considered what success would look like for this work and what timeline was needed for delivery. The Forum agreed to: • Stand up working groups as soon as possible • Examine the six areas identified and report back to the Forum • Consider a system-wide approval framework in parallel to working group analysis. The Forum will meet again in July and September, with the latter meeting taking place after the Aerospace Summit in Christchurch, on Wednesday 25 September.

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New Zealand Emerging Aviation Technologies Forum - Key Messages The Emerging Aviation Technologies Forum (EATF) is an initiative started by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of New Zealand, with support from the Ministry of Transport and the New Zealand Defence Force, and strong industry collaboration. The purpose of this forum is to provide strategic advice to regulators regarding technologies that will enter, or are likely to enter, the New Zealand aviation system in the next ten years and beyond. The Forum met on 24 July 2024 after conducting a series of workshops focused on priority technologies of Cyber Protected Aviation Systems, Space Planes, HAPS, UTM, Digital Towers, and Evolved Conventional Electric Aircraft. The key messages from this Forum were: It was felt that cyber security underpins many of the emerging aviation technologies. It was noted that the CAA had set up the Reduced and Zero Emissions Project and that this was broadly addressing the initial Evolved Conventional Electric Aircraft priorities. It was agreed BVLOS approvals are a key enabler to unlocking more advanced UAS operations including Space Planes and HAPS and need to be enabled as routine by the regulators. It was agreed to work on further detail to clarify the problem statements around UTM ecosystem and related operations. The Forum was aligned in recognising that Digital Towers technologies are now available and an important building block for emerging aviation. In addition to unpacking the six priority technologies, several technology agnostic themes emerged. These included: The need for readily accessible ‘sandbox’ environments. The need for flexible and adaptive airspace design. The six priority technologies touch multiple stakeholders, including existing aviation system participants. It is important that industry and government agencies continue to work together to advance aviation technological developments in support of national priorities.

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Datalink makes 👨‍✈️ 👩‍✈️ controller-pilot communications more efficient and is a key enabler to increase #aviation safety and capacity! To support air traffic this summer, the Datalink Performance Monitoring Group (DPMG) defined 6 key targets & the report on their progress is out now! The report shows real progress has been made! The deployment of new VDL2 frequencies and initiatives to mitigate GNSS interferences showcase the Datalink community's commitment to operational efficiency and safety. Our joint efforts to increase logon rates and ensure flight plan compliance have borne fruit. Eliminating repetitive uplink messages and optimizing the usage of good communication channels still need to be tackled. Our dedicated EUROCONTROL datalink programme team will continue to provide updates. 🔗 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eECku72e 👉 Contact our #TeamEUROCONTROL expert Ludovic Legros for more information: https://lnkd.in/eQYQBQb2

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How will PHI Aviation's new H175 helicopters enhance offshore and rescue operations? Two Airbus H175 helicopters have entered service with PHI Aviation, bolstering their offshore energy, search-and-rescue, and medical evacuation missions in Australia. Operating from Broome, these state-of-the-art aircraft are equipped with advanced Helionix safety systems, low vibration, and a quiet sound profile—making them an ideal fit for long-range transport across Western Australia. Cory Latiolais, CSP, COO of PHI Aviation Asia Pacific, emphasized the significance of these aircraft, stating they reflect PHI’s commitment to sustainable innovation and exceptional service. Airbus Helicopters’ Christian Venzal highlighted the H175’s performance in challenging environments, adding value to PHI’s diverse fleet with capabilities for SAR missions and medical evacuations. What impact do you think these new additions will have on PHI’s operations in Australia? Read the full article on our blog for more insights: https://lnkd.in/gWWVmzwH #PHIAviation #AirbusHelicopters #H175 #CoryLatiolais #ChristianVenzal #SearchAndRescue #MedicalEvacuation #OffshoreTransport #AvfoilNews #Helionix #SustainableAviation #AviationInnovation #Rotorcraft #AustraliaAviation #HelicopterSafety

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How Will LifeFlight’s New AW139s Transform Aeromedical Services in Australia? LifeFlight has expanded its fleet with the delivery of the first of seven new Leonardo AW139 helicopters, G-YAIR, arriving in Toowoomba on December 19. This addition marks a significant enhancement in LifeFlight’s capabilities, supporting its mission to provide top-tier search, rescue, and aeromedical services across Australia. The new AW139 will join LifeFlight’s existing fleet of G-YAAA and G-YORX, creating a robust rotational system that ensures operational resilience. Dedicated to the Queensland Health services contract, the AW139s will operate from five fully funded bases in Toowoomba, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Bundaberg, and Mt. Isa. This expansion is backed by a $1.25 billion funding agreement from the Queensland Government over ten years, ensuring the continuity of vital aeromedical services. Manufactured by Leonardo in Italy, the AW139 was meticulously assembled at the LifeFlight Clive Berghofer Maintenance Centre. Known as the most advanced aeromedical rescue helicopter globally, the AW139 boasts a maximum cruise speed of 305 kph and a range of 895 km, making it ideal for diverse missions—from sea rescues to outback operations and mountainous terrain winching. Ashley van de Velde OAM, CEO of LifeFlight, emphasized the strategic importance of this investment: “Our challenge is to future-proof our service amid strong population growth and increasing demand from Queensland Health. The AW139s can travel further and faster, which is critical to maintaining the high standard of care that Queenslanders expect from LifeFlight.” Jeremy Ovens, Head of Flight Operations, highlighted the operational benefits: “In FY24, we helped over 8,000 people, an 11% increase from the previous year. These new helicopters enable us to respond more efficiently, ensuring we meet the rising demand for our lifesaving services.” The AW139 features enhanced capabilities, including a larger galley, advanced communication systems, and a modern wheeled stretcher system, all designed to improve patient care and operational efficiency. The new helicopters will first be trialed in Toowoomba before being deployed to the Sunshine Coast, Bundaberg, and Mount Isa, further strengthening LifeFlight’s emergency helicopter network. How do you think the addition of advanced helicopters like the AW139 will impact emergency response and patient care in your community? For more insights, visit our blog: https://lnkd.in/ga7UemEd #LifeFlight #Leonardo #AW139 #Aeromedical #EmergencyResponse #HelicopterRescue #QueenslandHealth #AviationInnovation #MedicalHelicopter #SearchAndRescue #Healthcare #AvfoilNews

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✈ Australian Aviation Network Overview ✈ Airservices Australia has released its Australian Aviation Network Overview report for July 2024. Highlights include: ➡ July 2024 was a really challenging month for the Australian aviation industry due largely to disruptions from adverse weather, CrowdStrike outage and Rex’s suspension of Boeing 737 services. ➡ Against this backdrop, the Australian aviation network still recorded 4 per cent growth from the previous month in terms of daily average flights, driven by the school holiday period and Paris Olympic Games. ➡ The recent improvement of industry on-time performance reversed in June 2024, mainly impacted by adverse weather. Coordinated cross-industry measures to better prepare and respond to these events are being progressed, including joint development of what-if scenarios and alternative demand/capacity balancing plans. These measures will strengthen network reliability and deliver a more consistent experience for the travelling public. ➡ July 2024 recorded the lowest level of Airservices attributable ground delays since reporting on this metric commenced in January 2023. Notwithstanding our efforts to limit the impact of our capacity constraints, the consistency of our performance still needs to improve. Increasing operational resourcing and improving flexible workforce deployment remains our top priority to eliminate air traffic management (ATM) attribution to delay and improve the operations of the network as a whole. Click here to view the full report - https://lnkd.in/gjSTdyNx #airservicesaustralia #avgeek #airtrafficmanagement

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How will Wisk Aero’s partnership with Airservices Australia impact the future of autonomous air mobility? Wisk Aero has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Airservices Australia, marking a significant step toward the integration of autonomous air taxis into Australia’s airspace. This collaboration will focus on safely incorporating advanced air mobility (AAM) networks, including uncrewed, self-flying air taxis, within the national airspace system. Catherine MacGowan, Wisk’s VP of APAC, highlighted Australia’s strong aviation heritage and the alignment of Wisk’s vision with Airservices’ expertise in airspace reform. The partnership will explore autonomous aircraft operations, flight information management, and airspace procedures, with an eye toward the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games. Through this MoU, Wisk Aero and Airservices aim to establish standards and frameworks that will enable the safe and efficient integration of AAM services, benefiting from Airservices’ leadership in airspace modernization. Could this partnership set the stage for a new era in urban air mobility in Australia? For more on this story, visit our blog: https://lnkd.in/gm_7rngZ #AvfoilNews #WiskAero #AirservicesAustralia #AdvancedAirMobility #AutonomousAirTaxis #AviationNews #UrbanAirMobility #AAM #AustraliaAviation #SelfFlying #FutureOfTravel #AviationInnovation #AirspaceIntegration

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Global Crossing Airlines has formed a joint venture with Australia-based ATB Aviation and will help to establish an ACMI and charter airline with Airbus A321 freighters in its fleet. https://hubs.la/Q02_xR6q0

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✈ Australian Aviation Network Overview ✈ The April Australian Aviation Network Overview on trends in the Australian aviation sector is now available to view. Highlights include: ➡ The average number of flights grew by 2 per cent during April, driven by Easter school holiday demand. ➡ Overall air traffic management outcomes have trended favourably in recent months. ➡ In April, Airservices attributed capacity constraints affected 2.1 per cent of flights, similar to the rate observed in March. ➡ Where ground delay program (GDP) periods were implemented, 9.2 per cent of ground delay periods and 0.4 per cent of cancellations were attributable to Airservices, well below the monthly average of the past year. ➡ However short-term staff availability challenges particularly in the second half of April around Sydney and Perth demonstrate that service levels continue to be variable. ➡ We remain focused on further improving service outcomes through our training and recruitment programs, and refining enabling processes and systems. Click here to view the full report – https://lnkd.in/ghKe9NQC #aviation #airservicesaustralia #avgeek #airtrafficmanagement

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✈️ Airservices Australia has released its Australian Aviation Network Overview report for November 2024 ✈️ Highlights include: ➡️         In November 2024, the Australian aviation network recorded a three per cent decrease in daily flights compared to the previous month driven by a seasonal dip in domestic traffic. However, double-digit growth this month from several international airlines is a positive signal of increasing capacity ahead of a busy summer holiday season. ➡️          Based on the latest available data from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE), the cancellation rate in October was the lowest it has been since 2021 and about half the rate of the same time last year. ➡️          Weather disruptions intensified along the East Coast in the second half of November and are expected to remain the key challenge throughout this summer. ➡️          Airservices service performance is continuing to improve. In November, only 0.1 per cent of total network flight delays were attributed to Airservices. Overall, air traffic service variations reached their lowest levels since commencing reporting on these metrics in 2022. ➡️          We are focused on maintaining this momentum and have been preparing for the summer holiday period. Additional layers of resilience are being built into rosters with standby arrangement in key locations. For more info - https://lnkd.in/gtaawq-q #AirservicesAustralia #Aviation

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🚁 New Aircraft Boost for Australia's Bushfire Season 🔥 🚁Australia’s aerial firefighting capabilities have received a significant boost with the arrival of new aircraft for this year’s bushfire season. Coulson Aviation's C-130 Hercules LAT has joined the fleet, providing enhanced firefighting power. The fleet now includes 160 aircraft, along with three additional heavy-lift helicopters: a Sikorsky S-61 and two Black Hawks. Thanks to increased funding, these aircraft will remain in Australia for up to seven months, extending critical coverage throughout the fire season. This investment in preparation and fleet expansion is a key step in ensuring a more effective response to bushfires in the months ahead. https://lnkd.in/g_SUENsu #BLAZETAMER380 #FireSuppressant #AerialFirefighting #BushfireSeason #CoulsonAviation #SikorskyS61 #BlackHawk #FirefightingAircraft #BushfirePreparation #Australia #WildfireDefense

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𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? For aerobatic pilots ✈️ like Flight Lieutenant Justin “Jugs” Hayter of the Royal Australian Air Force, decisions often need to be made in split seconds⏱️. Decision making for someone in a role such as his is typically driven by muscle memory or standard operating procedures (SOPs). In military situations, whether it’s ‘contact left’ or ‘contact right,’ a soldier's response is dictated by their training 🪖. Similarly, in the workplace, whether it’s an outage or a cyber attack, immediate procedures and checklists📋 are followed. However, Jugs shared an interesting perspective about situations where standard rules don’t apply. In such cases, the response boils down to team culture. For example, if you know that your boss and team will back you up, that might encourage bold decisions, which can resolve situations faster than playing it safe. ▶️ Watch the video to hear Jugs’ insights and share your thoughts. 🎞️ For those who enjoy my previous video on including transitions in videos, see if you can spot the subtle transition I included in the clip. #content #video #tips

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Following strict protocols is essential in cockpit management that pilots take care 100% of the time. This is a simple mistake with serious consequences. This is well worth a read. #Boeing #Airlines #Safety

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Taskforce replaces Council on the Jet Zero mission towards cleaner aviation. Government has launched refreshed plans to tackle aviation emissions by establishing the Jet Zero Taskforce to chart a clear path toward cleaner aviation. Members will include the Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds MP, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband, CEOs of major airlines, such as easyJet and Virgin, airports like Heathrow and Manchester, as well as fuel producers, trade bodies and leading universities. Building on the previous Jet Zero Council, the Taskforce will support the production and delivery of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and zero emission flights, as well as look at how to improve aviation systems to make them more efficient. It will also explore the sector’s demand for greenhouse gas removals and the non-CO2 impacts of aviation, such as vapour trails left in the sky, to account for the sector’s overall environmental impact. Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh MP, speaking before her sudden resignation last week said, “Climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face, and together with industry, I am determined to build an aviation sector that’s future-ready and better for the planet. “We need to make flying a cleaner, greener experience and the new and improved Jet Zero Taskforce will be the driving force behind this transition. I look forward to working with all members to deliver meaningful changes that will boost our economy and make the UK a global leader in sustainable travel. CEO of Airlines UK, Tim Alderslade said, “The UK can lead the way in net zero aviation, ensuring our world-class aviation and aerospace companies can continue to support a growing UK economy and industrial base and provide families the chance to travel long into the future. Collaboration with government and across the whole sector and supply chain is vital to making the rapid progress we need and to help usher in a new era of sustainable air travel, with all the jobs and investment that entails.” Set to meet for the first time in early December, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and creating a strong, resilient UK SAF industry will be high on the agenda. In November, the SAF Mandate was officially signed into law, requiring an increasing amount of SAF in overall jet fuel from 1 January 2025. By 2040, 22% of all jet fuel must come from sustainable sources – whether that be from household waste or by using new power-to-liquid technology. Chief Executive of AirportsUK, Karen Dee said, “This Taskforce, which will build on the work of the previous body, will continue to ensure government and industry collaborate to deliver on our net zero carbon commitments... Find out more 👉 https://lnkd.in/e_nSffs9 #airtravel #aircraft #airlines #aviation #netzero #cleanenergy #sustainability

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MAIB has published our accident investigation report into the grounding of roll-on/roll-off passenger ferry Alfred on the east coast of Swona Island on 5 July 2022. Summary At 1400 on 5 July 2022, the UK-registered roll-on/roll-off passenger ferry Alfred grounded on the east coast of Swona Island, Pentland Firth, Scotland. The impact caused injuries to 41 passengers and crew, and damage to Alfred’s port bulbous bow and almost all the vehicles being transported on board. The vessel subsequently refloated on the rising tide and continued to St Margaret’s Hope under its own power later that afternoon; there was no pollution, but the vessel was withdrawn from service for repairs. Safety issues routinely passing too close to land fatigue led to loss of awareness at a critical point in the vessel’s passage lack of assurance that procedures were being followed Recommendations Recommendations (2024/107-109) have been made to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to: ensure that passage plans are available during inspections/surveys; issue guidance to the UK domestic passenger fleet on the need to secure heavy objects; and, to review the general exemption issued to UK domestic passenger vessels that removes the requirement for them to carry voyage data recorders. https://lnkd.in/g_nBSm5x #MAIB #ALFRED #PENTLAND

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It's clear that our #eyetracking technology provides significant benefits for #pilottraining at Qantas and, after learning how to use it properly, Matthew Gray MAv HF FRAeS reflects on that journey, affirming that it is now so good for training, especially in the #simulator. #aviation #seeingmachines

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A good summary of our activities over the last few months!

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