SCENESCENE
Transatlantic Partnership
There’s been a further shake-up in the airline
business in Europe after Air France, KLM,
Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic announced
a new strategic joint venture on flights across
the Atlantic. As part of the agreement, the Air
France-KLM Group has purchased a 31%
stake in Virgin Atlantic, worth £220 million.
With 49% of the carrier already owned by
Delta Air Lines, the Virgin Group’s share has
fallen to a minority stake of 20%.
The airlines say the new four-way joint
venture will offer, “the most comprehensive
transatlantic route network”, with 300 daily
flights across the Atlantic. The partnership is
intended to strengthen these airlines’ offerings
in a highly competitive market against the
British Airways-American Airlines transatlantic
joint venture and new low-cost, long-haul
competitors.
Virgin Atlantic said the partnership, which is
planned to run for at least 15 years, would
boost its passenger feed from Europe at
Heathrow where the airline is slot constrained.
Virgin Group Chairman Sir Richard Branson will
retain chairmanship of the carrier. With 80% of
the airline his company founded in 1984 nowin foreign hands, he struck a valedictory tone
in an open letter to staff, writing: “As I get a little
older, I want to be certain that all the necessary
building blocks are in place for Virgin Atlantic
to continue to prosper and grow.”
Virgin Atlantic will remain independent and
continue to fly under its own brand and with a
UK operating certificate, the airlines said. The
carrier currently operates 14 Boeing 787-9s
(three more are to be delivered), seven Airbus
A340-600s, eight A330-300s and eight 747-
400s, with 12 A350-1000s due from 2019.
Mark BroadbentVirgin Atlantic’s fleet recapitalisation, which
has seen the arrivals of 787-9s and A330s in
recent years, will continue with the deliveries
of 12 A350-1000s from 2019. AirbusSkeldar V-200 to
Deliver Vaccines
The UMS Skeldar V-200 is to test the
effectiveness of an unmanned system in
delivering vaccines to remote regions in the
South Pacific after Unicef and the Vanuatu
government selected Martek Marine to
demonstrate the system’s capability for the
role in a trial on Efate Island in late August
2017.
Vanuatu is an archipelago of 83 islands in the
South Pacific Ocean. Many of these islands
are only accessible by boat and the lack of
infrastructure and topography means there
are logistical difficulties in accessing the
islands for mobile vaccination teams.
The Skeldar V-200 trial will assess whether
UAVs can operate safely in the environmentto deliver vaccines to remote communities
and therefore reduce disruption to the supply
chain. It will also explore the wider potential of
UAVs in the South Pacific.
The UK-headquartered Martek Marine
provides maritime UAV services. It recently
signed a two-year contract with the European
Maritime Safety Agency to provide a pair of
Skeldar V-200s for search and rescue, border
control, pollution control, anti-smuggling,
fisheries protection and emissions monitoring
around the European coastline. The Skeldar
V-200 is manufactured by UMS Skeldar, a
joint venture between Saab, which originally
developed the Skeldar, and the Swiss
company UMS Aero. Mark BroadbentA trial is to assess the Skeldar V-200’s capability for delivering vaccines to remote South
Pacific islands. Martek MarineH175 for CHC
Helicopter
CHC Helicopter has received its first Airbus
Helicopters H175, G-EMEA (msn 5024). The
aircraft is based at Aberdeen and is configured
to carry 16 passengers for offshore oil and gas
transport. Eric Raz/Airbus Helicopters