< PreviousELECTRIC AIR-VOLUTION Seaplanes to Become ePlanes An engine company which originated in Australia and a regional air carrier serving a unique market in Western Canada are partnering to develop what could become the world’s first all-electric fleet airline. Harbour Air flies half-a-million passengers per year in small seaplanes on short routes around British Columbia. Within a couple years, they hope to start commercial flights with all-electric aircraft. 68 | ICAO JOURNAL | ISSUE 2 | 2019 SEAPLANES TO BECOME EPLANESVancouver-based Harbour Air, which claims to be the world’s largest all- seaplane airline, and magniX, which shifted its operations from Australia two years ago to Seattle, Washington in the Northwest US, announced in March 2019 their intent to develop a prototype aircraft, certify it through Transport Canada and the US Federal Aviation Administration, and eventually power the airline’s 30,000 commercial flights a year using only electric motors. The irony is that their innovative approach uses 50-year-old airframes. Harbour Air has been recognized for 10 consecutive years as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, and is known for its innovations with turbine engines, avionics, aircraft interiors, seating and windows. They were also the first fully carbon-neutral airline in North America in 2007, through the purchase of carbon offsets. The company was founded in 1982 by Greg McDougall, who was recently inducted into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame. “It’s pretty evident that transportation is moving in the direction of going electric, and that includes aviation,” McDougall told ICAO Journal. “We were in a position to take advantage of the technology sooner than a lot of other people because of the stage legs that we have. And the fact that we run primarily single-engine aircraft.” Most of Harbour Air’s routes are less than 100 miles: for example, Vancouver to Seattle, Victoria to Whistler, Richmond to Maple Bay. The current lithium ion battery capacity of the magni500 750-horsepower (HP) all-electric motor, according to magniX CEO Roei Ganzarski, is sufficient to power a DHC-2 de Havilland Beaver for about 100 miles with a 100-mile reserve. “We’re using about 200 kilowatt hours of battery, basically creating a ‘Turbo Beaver,’” he explains. The plan is to develop the prototype all- electric aircraft by the end of this year, then submit it to regulatory authorities for certification, a process that can take a couple of years. “As that happens,” McDougall foresees, “the battery technology continues to evolve. Our view is that with the amount of money and brainpower that's going into battery fuel cells development, by the time we get through the regulatory process there would be some pretty dramatic changes.” More powerful batteries will enable larger aircraft to be adapted to electric power, eventually replacing the entire fleet of Beaver, Single Otter, Twin Otter and Cessna Grand Caravan EX floatplanes. In addition to the benefit of zero carbon emissions, the electric aircraft are virtually no-maintenance, which will enable Harbour Air to expand its services and reduce prices to passengers and cargo customers. Ganzarski notes that five percent of commercial flights worldwide today are less than a hundred-miles range. And with steady battery improvement, he believes that “by 2025 you'll be able to do five, six, seven hundred mile ranges in aircraft that are either converted or new aircraft designs” – such as the ‘Alice’ electric plane unveiled at this year’s Paris Air Show by Israeli startup Eviation Aircraft, which can fly 650 miles at 500 mph using three mangiX 900 kWh electric motors. California-based startup Ampaire plans to test a retrofitted hybrid- electric plane on a commercial route on the Hawaiian island of Maui later this year in partnership with Mokulele Airlines. Their ‘Electric EEL’ is a twin-engine Cessna 337 Skymaster with one Ampaire electric motor and one conventional combustion engine, yielding a range of about 200 miles plus reserves. Bye Aerospace, founded in 2007 and based near Denver, Colorado, has hundreds of customers lining up for their two-seat eFlyer2 trainer aircraft using the new 90 kW (120 HP) Siemens SP70D electric motor. Bye hopes the eFlyer 2 will become the first FAA- certified, all-electric airplane to serve the flight training and general aviation markets. SEAPLANES TO BECOME EPLANES www.ICAO.int | 69H. E. JASSEM SAIF A. AL-SULAITI MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS An Interview with HE Jassem Saif A. Al-Sulaiti, Minister of Transport and Communications, Qatar We understand that Qatar is a candidate for election to the ICAO Council at the forthcoming Assembly under Part III of the elections. Why do you think Qatar deserves to be a Council Member? There are a number of reasons. Qatar has been an ICAO member since 1971 yet has never had the opportunity to serve on the Council. Qatar is a strong supporter of ICAO and is committed to the Organization’s mission, objectives and principles, which provide for the safe, secure, environmentally sound and sustainable development of international civil aviation and the establishment of air transport services on the basis of non-discrimination, equality of opportunity and sound economic operations. These principles have benefitted Qatar and other Member States tremendously. International civil aviation has become one of the key pillars in the Qatari economy. Over the last 30 years, Qatar has developed a strong and modern aviation sector. This has enabled Qatar to acquire the knowledge and experience to make a significant contribution to the governance of international civil aviation if it were to be elected to the Council, and to help find solutions to the challenges which face the sector. Could you expand on the importance of aviation to Qatar? Air transport is one of the key drivers of global economic growth, and is a significant enabler of economic prosperity. This is particularly true of Qatar. According to the World Economic Forum, for 2018 Qatar was ranked the second most competitive economy in the Arab world. In Qatar, aviation is a vital segment of the economy, and has contributed significantly to the acceleration of economic growth through job creation in sectors such as tourism, trade and the industry. Air transport in Qatar is growing exponentially. In 2018, the compounded growth rate for passenger traffic reached 12 percent and for air cargo 16 percent annually. Hamad International Airport served over 35 million passengers in 2018, and the first months of 2019 have seen continuing positive trends for passengers, cargo and aircraft take-off and landing.Could you tell us more about your flagship Hamad International Airport? We are extremely proud of Hamad International Airport. It was inaugurated for passenger movement in 2014, and serves more than 200 destinations across all inhabited continents. Approximately 80 percent of the world’s population is within a six-hour radius, positioning the airport as a major gateway. In 2018, it recorded more than 222 000 aircraft movements. Currently the airport has the capacity to handle more than 30 million passengers annually and is undergoing expansion to accommodate more than 50 million passengers and two million tonnes of cargo annually. It has the largest maintenance hanger in the world. Our goal is for HIA to be one of the most operationally efficient airports with the passenger at the heart of its strategy. The quality of the airport has been well-recognized. It is classified as a five-star airport by Skytrax, making it one of only five airports to achieve this status. In 2019, it was ranked fourth Best Airport in the world by Skytrax. It has also won Best Airport in the Middle East for five consecutive years. National carrier Qatar Airways is one of the best-known airlines in the world. Yes, the growth of the airline has been phenomenal and its reputation unparalleled. It had only four aircraft in 1997 and 28 at the end of 2003. Today, it operates more than 250 aircraft and this number will go up to 285 aircraft by the end of this year, taking the national carrier to more than 150 destinations worldwide. It has one of the industry’s youngest fleets with an average age of five years. It is the second largest international cargo operator in the world. The safety record of the airline stands out. It was the first airline to be audited by IATA and has achieved 100 percent compliance each audit since. Qatar Airways is the first airline to launch “Global Beacon”, which provides the airline with global, real-time tracking. It would be exhausting to name all the awards Qatar Airways has won over the years, including “Best Business Class”, “Best Catering”, and “Airline of the Year in 2019”. In terms of Qatar’s involvement with ICAO, are there any special issues you wish to highlight? There are a number of areas which come to mind. In the area of aviation security, Qatar actively participates in the AVSEC panel and five AVSEC Working Groups. In 2017, Qatar achieved the highest score on the ICAO AVSEC audit with a 99.10 percent compliance rate with respect to Annex 17 provisions, indicating the great qualitative leap that Qatar has achieved. Qatar participated in capacity-building efforts through the cooperative Aviation Security Programme and the Regional Aviation Security Forum, to help States strengthen compliance with ICAO SARPs. The CAA has recently adopted Aviation Cyber Security Guidelines which include principles and standards relating to securing critical aviation systems. On safety, Qatar has obtained an Effective Implementation rate of over 91 percent for the USOAP audit. Qatar is an active member of the Facilitation Panel. In line with ICAO’s efforts to address climate change, the State of Qatar’s National Vision 2030 is committed to achieving and exceeding the Sustainable Development Goals established by the UN. The CAA is focused on building a foundation of environmental awareness across the full spectrum of the aviation industry and is currently developing Qatar’s Voluntary State Action Plan for implementation this year. We recognize the importance of human resources and invest heavily in aviation-related educational facilities. Qatar and ICAO have jointly established the Qatar-ICAO Developing Countries Scholarship programme, sponsored by the CAA and the Qatar Aeronautical College, which is recognized as an ICAO TRAINAR PLUS Centre. In 2018, the programme offered five scholarships for students in a variety of aviation fields to augment the capabilities of developing countries to meet ICAO Standards. This programme will be renewed this year to accept new students. In addition, Qatar has trained over 2 000 professionals from more than 80 countries and territories since 1986 and has awarded over 400 fellowships in the last 20 years to professionals from developing States. Last, but not least, Qatar has made significant financial contributions to the No Country Left Behind ICAO initiative as well as to other ICAO programmes. Qatar also is one of the most active contributors to ICAO and a recent ICAO report has ranked it 18th among the countries that support ICAO the most. Any last words? Qatar demonstrated exemplary support for international civil aviation, both generally and to ICAO as an institution. Qatar is recognized as one of the most advanced States in the field of aviation. It has had a significant positive impact on aviation, regionally and globally. Qatar can make a major contribution to finding solutions to the challenges which we will face in the years to come. We would welcome the opportunity to serve on the Council.Meet ECAC Performance Standard TSA Qualified T +39 0575 4181 E infosecurity@ceia-spa.com W www.ceia.net/security/emis AUTOMATIC DETECTION HIGH THROUGHPUT LOW COST OF OWNERSHIP NO DEDICATED OPERATOR INSPECTION OF PACKAGES AND PALLETS OF ¬ Perishable goods and flowers ¬ Paper products ¬ Textiles and Clothing ¬ Plastic and wooden products AUTOMATIC SCREENING FOR NON-METALLIC CARGO EMIS ®Next >