The Swedish Transport Agency recently granted the Swedish auto giant permission to begin real-world testing of its self-driving cars, boosting the company’s chances of meeting its stated goal of bringing the technology to market by 2021.

The self-driving cars will be allowed on motorways and streets in the Gothenburg area. The cars will not be allowed to exceed 60 kilometres per hour when the self-driving features are activated and drivers are required to keep at least one hand on the wheel at all times. Operators of the autonomous vehicles must also undergo training provided by Volvo.

Earlier this month, the Swedish company unveiled the futuristic concept car Volvo 360c, a fully autonomous, electric vehicle with no steering wheel that has been described as “a bedroom on wheels”, by a recent article on Verge.

The company will explore how autonomous vehicles can be used to shuttle people between cities, allowing them more time for rest, work and play instead of the hassle of flying. Air travel routes of around 300 kilometers (186 miles) are “prime candidates for disruption,” the company said. Such routes actually become more time-consuming by air than by car once you factor in travelling to and from the airport, going through security and boarding procedures. So, it would make sense to travel in a self-driven car that allows you to enjoy work and play, with premium comfort so that you wake up refreshed at your destination.

“The business will change in the coming years and Volvo should lead that change of our industry,” company president and CEO Håkan Samuelsson said in a press release announcing the 360c. “Autonomous drive will allow us to take the big next step in safety but also open up exciting new business models and allow consumers to spend time in the car doing what they want to do.”

Volvo concludes that the 360c is a mere starter for a conversation about the doors that autonomous driving might open up in the future. The company intends to advance that conversation as technology and infrastructure continue to evolve.

While this is definitely a great conversation starter, we can’t be sure if autonomous cars can actually completely replace flights. Moreover, with the advent of hyperloop and flying cars, the competition is quite tough. What would you choose?

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Skyscanner has developed a one-stop flight search service with Yahoo search that will enable Hong Kongers to simultaneously view flight details as they research a destination, introducing greater ease to their itinerary planning and budgeting.

The new service, currently only available in traditional Chinese, has been launched in Yahoo’s desktop and mobile website in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and is expected to be gradually rolled out across other regions.

Image source: Skift

The partnership will see Skyscanner flight search features embedded into Yahoo search pages on desktop and mobile devices. When users search with designated keywords on the page, flight search bars powered by Skyscanner will appear.

Users can then adjust a series of filters, such as round-trip or one-way flights, number of passengers, cabin class, origin city and destination, and trip dates.

Upon pressing the Search Flights button, they will be redirected to the Skyscanner website, where they can proceed with the booking.

Lorraine Cheung, head of audience at Yahoo, said the search engine will continue to explore adding more features to support travellers in different aspects of their trip planning.

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Sabre Corporation recently surveyed 30 Asia-based airlines, and the results indicate that carriers are re-evaluating their strategic focus as they think creatively about new ways to generate revenue and increase yield.

Close to 70 per cent of the airlines who participated in Sabre’s study indicated that two main factors are influencing change: technological advancement and increasing traveller expectations. However, despite acknowledging the power of innovative technologies to enable new ways to sell, a majority of Asia-based airlines surveyed by Sabre admit to falling short of their ideal ancillary sales vision.

Image source: Travel Daily Media

With travellers expecting unique, targeted offers from their shopping experience, over half of the survey participants (53 per cent) believe that leveraging data intelligence, whether to gain insights into market trends or passenger behaviour, is a top growth area for their airline.
Yet, 80 per cent of the airlines surveyed claim to not have achieved their desired ancillary sales, and only one in five respondents have identified product differentiation as their airline’s strategic focus.

The results, which were announced by Sabre last week at STX Singapore, demonstrates a significant opportunity for Asia-Pacific airlines to create a personalised retail experience for the traveller as a means to differentiate their products and drive incremental revenue.

“With consumer trends evolving as fast as the markets they serve, airlines have the potential to generate significant growth by efficiently channelling their content with innovative technology solutions that harness artificial intelligence and machine learning,” said Rakesh Narayanan, vice president, air line of business, Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific.

“Our Beyond NDC programme drives collaboration with airlines and agencies to help them create rich personas and micro-segmented offers using rich data that support their business objectives.”

Ancillary sales have increased by 88 per cent year-on-year in the region, but reports show the same top ancillary requests appear across all markets: baggage, seat selection and meals. While in-flight Wi-Fi is increasingly featured in the top three most popular ancillaries, accounting for a quarter of business traveller requests in Asia-Pacific, there remains room for airlines to partner with technology leaders to help them up the ante on competitive differentiation.

Sabre opined that successful retailers understand that the key to delivering curated experiences lies in tailoring offers to distinct buying personas, requiring a robust data-sciences approach to maximise individual consumer engagement as well as end-to-end profitability.

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The country’s first ever partially biojet fuel-powered aircraft took off from Dehradun, Uttarakhand, on August 27, and landed successfully in New Delhi. The 72-seater Bombardier Q400 belonged to SpiceJet, India’s fourth-largest airline by market share, and used a blend of 75% aviation turbine fuel (ATF).

“It (biojet fuel) has the potential to reduce our dependence on traditional aviation fuel by up to 50% on every flight,” Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, said in a press release.

The biofuel used by SpiceJet to mark this momentous flight was developed by the Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun, from the seed of the jatropha crop. It meets the specification of aircraft engine makers Pratt & Whitney and Bombardier, SpiceJet said, and can potentially reduce the airline’s carbon footprint by 15%.

Image source: Conde Nast Traveller

This is not the first time an airline has experimented with biofuel. In 2011, Alaska Airlines operated 75 selected flights on a cooking oil blend, while Dutch airline KLM flew weekly biofuel flights between New York and Amsterdam for six months in 2013.

India is expected to become the world’s third-biggest aviation market by 2025 on the back of a domestic-travel boom. That is now leading to fierce competition and a bruising fare war, that is hurting profits of airlines.

Most airlines in India are under pressure from a depreciating rupee and surging fuel prices. Besides, domestic carriers are mostly pursuing volume over profitability. With airlines flying so many flights, fuel demand has surged. In the April-June quarter, some of the biggest players incurred massive losses. While net profits of IndiGo, India’s largest airline by market share, spiraled down 97% year-on-year to Rs 28 crore ($4 million), Spicejet reported a loss of Rs 38.06 crore. Jet Airways’ losses stood at Rs 1,323 crore with its fuel expenses rising 35%.

It is interesting to note that back in 2013-14, SpiceJet’s rival, IndiGo, had toyed with the idea of using biofuel to power some of its fleet, before deciding to shelve the plan. Back then Indigo considered biofuel to be a cheaper alternative to ATF idf oil prices continued to rise. But at that time it was cheaper and more convenient for them to import jet fuel from Singapore, leading to the plan being shelved.

According to IATA, aviation industry contributes to 2% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the world which will rise as the aviation industry is expanding. IATA has set a target for one billion passengers to fly on aircraft using a mix of clean energy and fossil fuels by 2025.
IATA has set targets to mitigate carbon emissions from air transport — an average improvement in fuel efficiency of 1.5% per year from 2009 to 2020, a cap on net aviation carbon emissions from 2020 (carbon-neutral growth) and a reduction in net aviation carbon emissions of 50% by 2050, relative to 2005 levels. With the introduction of biofuel to its fleet, SpiceJet says it hopes to be much ahead of these targets.

The move is a good start to address concerns around the poor health of the aviation sector. Under these circumstances, Bio jet fuel has the potential to halve the fuel cost of every flight and bring down fares. Nitin Gadkari also said that a cabinet note would soon be moved to come out with a special policy on the use of biofuel in the aviation sector. With a strong government policy in place and efforts from airlines like SpiceJet to experiment, biofuel will hopefully usher in a new era of reducing dependence on oil in a highly price-sensitive industry.

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The airlines industry’s biggest enemy is back again. During the past 12 months, Brent crude price has jumped 54.22% to $76.86 a barrel, while jet fuel prices have risen more than 28%. During the same period, the rupee weakened 3.85% against the dollar.

This has prompted most airlines to raise flight ticket prices, cut non-fuel costs and boost non-aeronautical revenue to offset the impact of rising fuel costs and a weakening rupee. IndiGo (Interglobe Aviation Ltd) was the first to hike flight fares by levying a fuel surcharge of as much as ₹400 on domestic routes from 30 May to offset higher costs.

SpiceJet is also planning to diversify its activities beyond “pure aviation” to protect itself from the high risks associated with the aviation sector, and will soon announce forays into a dedicated freight business in cargo and courier logistics. This could be a first for an Indian airline.The airline also plans to develop digital aviation and travel products. They are both likely to be in collaboration with international partners.

“We believe that we must hedge ourselves from the risk of being in a pure aviation business and find businesses which are connected to aviation but which could be a little more insulated from the high cost of fuel,” said SpiceJet co-founder and CEO Ajay Singh in a statement, adding, “so we are looking at some new areas.”

Jet Airways is seeing worse. The reports of full-service carrier’s grounding in the next 60 days owing to severe resource crunch have stirred the aviation sector. The airline has refuted the reports but the speculations are flying thick and fast. Some reports also suggested that Jet has asked employees to take salary cut of between 5 and 25 per cent to slash operating expenses.

The problem with these airlines is no different from the rest of the industry. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker offered a warning to the flying public – fuel costs are skyrocketing and that extra cost will be passed onto the consumer with more expensive ticket prices. Fuel constitutes 35-50% of an airline’s total costs. Airlines in India also make payments in dollars for salaries of expatriates, for maintenance and overhaul, purchase of new aircraft and for buying jet fuel. However, with India being a price-sensitive market in the commercial aviation segment, airlines often struggle to pass on costs to customers.

According to the fifth annual Global Travel Forecast, published by GBTA and CWT with the support of the Carlson Family Foundation, Asia Pacific expects to see a 3.2% rise in 2019 pricing. Chinese demand remains high and by 2020 the country is expected to become the world’s biggest air travel market. In 2019 the country’s flights are seen going up 3.9%.

But China will not be alone. The vast majority of countries in the region will see price rises, especially in markets like New Zealand (7.5%) and India (7.3%). The latter is expected to be the world’s third largest aviation market by 2025, with airports operating beyond capacity. The only exception in this booming region is Japan. Prices there will likely drop 3.9% due to the country’s added capacity in preparation for the Olympic Games in 2020.

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Lufthansa Innovation Hub (LIH) and the SAP.iO Berlin Foundry have teamed up to launch the first ever Aviation Blockchain Challenge worldwide. Announced in a blog recently, the challenge seeks to explore potential opportunities and drive adoption of Blockchain technology in the airline industry.

According to the reveal announcement, application of blockchain technology in finance currently dwarfs what is obtainable in the Travel and Mobility Tech scene. In order to change this, the challenge aims to attract the most talented blockchain entrepreneurs from all over the world and give them an enabling environment to create ideas and experiment with new ways of doing things.

Leveraging Lufthansa’s sizable R&D ecosystem and industry experience alongside SAP’s extensive blockchain development experience and mentorship, the challenge will place the world’s most promising blockchain entrepreneurs in front of key decision makers and give their businesses great publicity.

Explaining why the challenge was created, Thorsten Dirks, Eurowings CEO and Lufthansa Group board member said, “Blockchain is one of the game-changing technologies of our time, which we are systematically addressing as part of our digital strategy for the Lufthansa Group. We look forward to discussing innovative solutions and initiating experiments together with our partner SAP at the Aviation Blockchain Challenge. By combining our aviation industry expertise with the Blockchain technology of a world market leader, we are creating the ideal worldwide framework for addressing Blockchain entrepreneurs with an affinity for travel and mobility.”

On his part, Deepak Krishnamurthy, Chief Strategy Officer & Executive Vice President of SAP praised the partnership, describing it as a key part of “a new innovation ecosystem that can potentially transform the entire travel industry.”

Challenge Categories

The Blockchain Aviation Challenge is divided into three categories namely the Airline Challenge, the Traveler Challenge and the Supplier Challenge. The Airline Challenge aims to promote solutions that eliminate errors and increase accuracy in airline operations, for example through enhanced ease of data-sharing across department and organisation lines.

The Traveler Challenge is for solutions that improve the passenger experience by making it more efficient and comfortable. It aims to identify ideas that provide added value for passengers and make the overall transit experience more enjoyable and less complicated.
The Supplier Challenge seeks to promote ideas that enhance transparency of supply chains and maintenance, which are central to the safe and reliable operations of airlines.Such ideas have the capacity to positively revolutionize parts of an airline’s maintenance and supply chain management.

Challenge Timeline and Prizes

The Blockchain Aviation Challenge kicks off with the ideas submission phase which ends on the 31st of August , 2018. The selection shortlist will be announced afterward, followed by mentoring and pitch preparation by SAP Blockchain specialists and LIH experts. The final pitch takes place at the Lufthansa Innovation Forum in front of senior management from Lufthansa Group and SAP.

According to the announcement, prizes for the selected entries include, a global stage for your idea, potential pilot project with Lufthansa Group, professional mentoring for all shortlisted teams, possibility to pitch in front of senior management, office space for up to three months in the Berlin ecosystem, and LIH and SAP take zero equity, among others.

Interested applicants can enter the aviation blockchain challenge here.

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We have all, at some point of time, faced issues finding our way through an airport. Whether it’s because it was our first time, or there were last-minute cancellations, delays, or gate switches; we have all found ourselves running around in circles forever. To avoid the hassle, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has come up with what could possibly be the world’s cutest blue robot that will help make that trip from security to your boarding gate a little less hectic.

The robot, called Care-E, will meet travellers at the security checkpoint and take them wherever they need to go with the carry-on luggage on its back. Though Care-E is the product of a Dutch airline, you won’t need to speak Dutch, or English, to operate the robot.

To start a trip with the robot, it will prompt travellers to scan their boarding pass through non-verbal sounds and cues on its screen. KLM will launch the device at New York’s JFK and San Francisco’s International airports before the company decides if it will provide the service elsewhere.

From there, according to KLM, the robot can carry up to 85 pounds of luggage and travel alongside at about 3 mph (the average human walking pace), so it’s probably not the best if you’re running late and need to dash through the terminal to catch your flight. However, if you’re early, you can use it for free with a two-day demo trial. KLM expects the robot guide to launch in either July or August.

The technology

The AI technology that Care-E deploys will help it access real-time data. For example, it’ll know if your gate changes and be able to redirect accordingly. The Care-E will be looped into a proprietary API for flight info and have access to a full GPS database of the airport as well. That means that if a traveller’s gate changes, the trolley will know and redirect to that location. A LiDAR sensor array provides collision and obstacle avoidance, while also mapping the environment in 2D. And because KLM wanted to make sure the Care-E is a safe trolley, there are a total of 8 Ultrasonic Rangefinder (five on the front and three on the back) for peripheral collision avoidance. An RGB-D Camera acts as the boarding pass scanner and handles the body detection and tracking. A majority of this tech is located on the front piece or the rear bumper.

Check out how it works-

There have been some companies before KLM who have tried to develop smart airport devices, but have repeatedly failed, mostly due to airport policy changes on batteries. For instance, smart luggage startup Raden announced in May that it had shut down. However, Care-E has an entire airport ready to support the device so it could have an advantage over its past competition.

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New Delhi and Mumbai International Airports will soon be operating environmentally friendly Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) TaxiBot vehicles. IAI’s agreement with Delhi-based KSU Aviation includes the first phase of the contract to carry out controlled trials at the airports till end 2018. The second phase includes delivery of 38 additional vehicles within four years to the two airports.

TaxiBot is a semi-robotic vehicle that connects to the aircraft and is controlled by the pilot to taxi the airplane from the airport’s jet bridge (“sleeve”) to the runway without using the aircraft’s jet engines.

In October, TaxiBot was officially certified by the U.S. FAA for dispatch towing for the Boeing 737 family. The system does not require any modification in airplane systems, APU replacement, added weight, or cargo space, according to the company. “The pilot is in control at all times after pushback using the airplane’s tiller and brakes, transparent to the pilot,” it noted.

The final tests of the vehicles designated for New Delhi Airport are being completed at Germany’s Frankfurt Airport with the support of Lufthansa, Lufthansa Engineering and Operational Services (LEOS), and ground support equipment company TLD, in collaboration with IAI.

The two Indian private metro airports are working hard to adhere to strict standards for emissions set by the government. Recently, GVK Mumbai International Airport became one of the two airports in Asia-Pacific to achieve a three-year extension of Airports Council International’s (ACI) Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) “Level 3+ Neutrality” certification.

Hauling of the aircraft by the TaxiBot saves 85 percent of the fuel consumed during standard taxi and provides a similar reduction of greenhouse gases emitted by the aircraft’s main engines. The TaxiBot also reduces noise levels by 60 percent and foreign object damage (FOD) by 50 percent as foreign objects can’t be sucked into the aircraft engines if they are not running.

“We trust the TaxiBot will prove itself effective in reducing air pollution, which is intensifying due to the fast growth of India’s aviation market, with the significant savings in fuel…and improvement in the gates congestion. We believe this agreement will open the path for many more significant contracts for this product worldwide,” said Shaul Shahar, IAI executive v-p and general manager of IAI’s Military Aircraft Group.

“The use of TaxiBot at Indian airports in the next five years will bring about a saving of $1.5 billion to Indian airlines and reduce environmental damage of greenhouse gases by four million tons,” explained Yogesh Sethi, the founder KSU Aviation.

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Australia’s national carrier Qantas has launched a new technology platform, Qantas Distribution Platform (QDP), to enable its trade partners to interact with its customers on a more personal level through enhancing the airline’s retailing, booking and servicing capabilities.

The QDP improves functionality of indirect agent channels by aligning them more closely with the capabilities currently available via qantas.com, making it easier for trade partners to sell the airline’s products and provide more seamless customer service.

The platform was developed in partnership with Farelogix Inc. and utilises IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC), the new industry standard. It has been certified to NDC Level 3, IATA’s highest certification.

Image source: PhocusWire

According to Qantas, its trade partners will now have access to richer content including images of cabins and meals and ability to book extras such as extra legroom seating. It will also provide Qantas Frequent Flyer information and tier status at the point of sale.

Vanessa Hudson, Qantas chief customer officer, said the platform was a key part of a broader digital evolution of the airline’s booking channels. “There have never been more ways for a customer to research and book their travel. We want to make the booking experience as seamless and enjoyable as possible, no matter their booking channel preference.”

Qantas’ trade partners can access the QDP either via approved partner connections, or directly by developing a connection to the airline’s NDC XML Application Program Interface (API).

Travelport, Serko and CTM are the early adopters of the platform. The airline is working closely with its other GDS and agency partners to adopt the new technology.

In a separate statement by Travelport, the company said the agreement with Qantas also includes distribution of the airline’ content via the Rich Content and Branding merchandising solution. Over 65,000 of Travelport-connected travel agencies globally now have access to Qantas’ booking and ancillary services.

Travelport is the first operator of a global distribution system to be granted the highest certification by IATA for its NDC airline distribution technology. The company said it is well-positioned to support the QDP and improve the flexibility of content distribution as the airline becomes one of the first to deploy NDC content later this year.

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Our airports and skies are choked. From 131 million in 2016, the total passenger traffic at airports is forecast to reach 378 million by 2026. Around 25 of the 126 airports operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have reached saturation point, which means India needs to expand its airport capacity dramatically over the next decade.

To deal with a projected 55% rise in passengers, the Indian government has planned to nearly triple its spend on upgrading airport infrastructure till 2022, compared with that of the previous four-year period, according to a report by Quartz, quoting a senior official of AAI. Between 2013 and 2017, the body has already spent Rs 6,300 crore in all on infrastructure, according to its annual report for financial year 2017. The government has been working hard towards collaborating with the private sector, and has also managed to deliver positive results in some places. After the four major airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad were transitioned to the PPP model, they have started gaining immense global recognition for their quality standards.

However, this transition has not been able to keep up pace with the growing passenger capacity, or take care of pressing issues that plague the sector. Nearly 422 air safety violations were detected in 2016, compared to 275 in 2015, highlighting the need to improve safety infrastructure. News headlines of airlines avoiding mid-air collisions have become all too common. Contentious matters such as Air India’s disinvestment and the rising trend of jet fuel prices, are having detrimental effects on the growth of the sector.

Image source: Reddiff.com

The shortage of infrastructural facilities and manpower in tier-II cities is also likely to affect the government’s ambitious UDAN scheme for better regional connectivity. As the runways in these cities are shorter, aircrafts will have to cut down in size, which also require specially trained pilots. A massive shortage of Indian commanders is already forcing airlines to recruit pilots from overseas at a higher cost. If the scenario continues, the possibility of meeting burgeoning demand seems bleak.

The government now needs to come up with innovative models to attract more private players, handing over the operations, maintenance and management responsibilities to them. The private sector is better equipped to deliver latest technologies and generate revenues from sources other than airfare, even while maintaining minimum operational standards. In tier-II and tier-III cities, a different strategy for airport management should be deployed to make the UDAN project viable. The issue of clearing pilot licenses quickly is another area that needs to be looked at in order to match up to the demand for more and more pilots.

A recent deal by the AAI seems to be signaling a step in the right direction, with the body inking a 15-year contract for INR 945 crore with Harris Corporation to address the safety and efficiency concerns that lack air navigational infrastructure in India. As part of the deal, Harris Corporation will serve as the prime contractor and systems integrator for the programme, which is to be implemented over a period of two years. The new system will also play a key role in deployment of remote towers for managing air traffic services at RCS (Regional Connectivity Scheme) airports. In the long run, implementation of Futuristic Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) network would result in enhanced air traffic safety, increase in airspace capacity by allowing the controllers to reduce the separation limits and accommodating the aircraft to more economical and environment-friendly flight levels, thus reducing the overall carbon footprint.

India’s exponential air traffic growth will keep creating demand for newer aircraft, air navigation technologies, airport security equipment and infrastructure. An overhaul of infrastructural management is the only answer to meet the demands of rapid aviation growth.

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