Introduction
Flightpath Training will now bring you aviation related news summaries. We aim to cover around three to four articles and will publish these every two weeks. This will include press releases, news articles and our own take on the story.
For this first issue, we will be covering an order of 30 A220-300 aircraft by JetBlue, the increased interest in Flightradar 24 due to the war in Ukraine.
JetBlue Orders 30 A220-300 Aircraft
JetBlue have signed a firm order for 30 more A220-300 aircraft. Formerly known as a part of the Bombardier C series aircraft, the A220 has seen a lot of interest from carriers. The aircraft has over 700 firm orders to date.
JetBlue already have eight of the aircraft in service and have reported to have seen a large increase in customer satisfaction thanks to the large cabin space, big windows and built in USB and power sockets available for each seat.
This does raise the question on how much the A220 series conflicts with Airbus' own A320 series, specifically the A318 and A319 which are the shortered version of the popular A320. The A220 series are purpose built for the 100 to 150 seat size which inherently means it is more efficient in its design and aerodynamics compared to the A320 series.
This may lead to Airbus reducing the appeal for the shortened A320 series in favour of the modern A220 aircraft.
Increase In Popularity of Flight Radar 24
There has been an increased interest by the public in Flightradar 24. A website that allows users to view aircraft on a world map based on satellite and transponder data. So much so that the website had to put in place a queue system to limit the number of users.
Many thousands of people have been tracking aircraft flying around the Ukrainian border, especially military aircraft such as NATO aerial fuel tankers and reconnaissance aircraft. Here is a US Air Force aircraft flying along the Polish border with Ukraine and Belarus, being watched by over 11000 users:
ICAO Trials Using PKD To Authenticate Travel Documents
Public Key Directory (PKD) data is used in supporting security, such as electronic passports to aid border security.
ICAO is now launching a pilot program which allows private partners to access this system in order to validate and process a wider range of travel documentation, including health certificates and proof of vaccination.
The eventual purpose is to allow authorities and stakeholders to be able to authenticate travel documents and health certificates to create a seamless process throughout a journey.
There may be concerns that this information may be exploited by private partners, commercially or otherwise, however according to ICAO, the information held on PKD contains no personal information about the document holder.
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