Aviation

Airbus and Audi partner to provide air & ground urban mobility services

Airbus and Audi partner to provide air & ground urban mobility services

ILA Berlin Air Show, 26 April 2018 – Airbus and the German car manufacturer Audi have teamed up to develop real, near-term urban mobility solutions.

Beginning this summer, Airbus – through its on-demand helicopter platform Voom – will partner with Audi to deliver an end-to-end transportation service, starting in São Paulo and Mexico City. This partnership will provide premium ground transportation serviced by Audi vehicles and helicopter transport via Airbus’ Voomservice, allowing customers to have a seamless and ultra-convenient travel experience.

“This important partnership with Audi addresses both current and future challenges for urban mobility. As a first concrete milestone in the cooperation we are developing, we will be offering multi-modal transportation solutions to the world’s most congested cities,” said Airbus CEO Tom Enders. “The world is rapidly urbanizing, and ground infrastructure alone cannot meet the demands of tomorrow. Increased congestion is pushing the cities’ transport systems to the limits, costing travellers and municipalities valuable time and money. Adding the sky as a third dimension to the urban transport networks is going to revolutionise the way we live – and Airbus is ready to shape and build that future of flight.”

“The Audi Group is committed to improve mobility in cities by introducing smart, innovative ideas. To find the best solutions for our customers, we therefore showed in 2018 the first modular system for Urban Air Mobility together with Airbus and our subsidiary Italdesign”, said Audi CEO Rupert Stadler. “Today we are going the next step entering into a service with Airbus and Voom to offer premium mobility for customers. By doing this, we will learn even better how we can ensure seamless, multi-modal transportation with the best partners for our customers. Together with Airbus, we will develop this cooperation further.”

Airbus has already carried out successful trials in São Paulo of its helicopter ride-hailing service Voom, which aims to ease congestion by making helicopter travel more accessible and affordable. Since March 2018, the service is also available in Mexico City.

Airbus and Italdesign are partnering on Pop Up, a full electric auto piloted and modular concept including a capsule connected to either ground or air module. Elsewhere, teams are working to create entirely new vehicles: CityAirbus, ready to fly before the end of 2018, is a technology demonstrator of an electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle for up to four passengers. Vahana aims to create a similar mode of transport for individual travellers or cargo. It completed its first full-scale flight in January 2018. In Singapore, the company is working with the country’s National University on the Skyways project to test a parcel transportation system using autonomous drones.

https://jetlinemarvel.net/2018/04/25/emirates-introduces-home-check-dubai/

Aviation

No More Jet Airways. Supreme Court Says “No Choice”, Orders Liquidation

Jet Airways was once one of India’s leading airlines, known for its service and extensive network. Founded in 1993, it served millions of passengers, connecting cities across India and international destinations.

However, since grounding its flights in April 2019, Jet Airways has struggled to navigate financial turbulence, leading to years of efforts to revive the airline and return it to the skies.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the liquidation of Jet Airways, citing “no choice” but to take this decisive step after the resolution plan failed to meet creditor obligations. The court invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142, which allows it to make orders for “complete justice” in any case, overriding previous tribunal rulings.

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The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium (JKC), which had won the bid to revive Jet, faced criticism for not fulfilling payment commitments to creditors, which included major banks like the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank.

The Supreme Court’s ruling pointed to “peculiar and alarming” issues surrounding the resolution plan’s implementation, leading to its conclusion that liquidation was the only feasible outcome.

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Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, alongside Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, emphasized that while liquidation should be a last resort, it was necessary as the resolution plan was “no longer capable of implementation.”

In line with this decision, the court ordered that the ₹200 crore already infused by JKC be forfeited and directed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in Mumbai to appoint a liquidator to oversee the process.

JKC, a partnership between Murari Jalan, a UAE-based Indian entrepreneur, and Florian Fritsch, a Jet shareholder through Kalrock Capital Partners Limited, had taken ownership of Jet Airways two years after it was grounded. The consortium’s inability to fulfill its financial obligations has now led to this final verdict, marking the end of an era for Jet Airways in India.