Boeing is leading a joint research project with UK partners to explore composite manufacturing technologies to enable higher aircraft production rates. The project, named isothermic high-rate sustainable structures (IHSS), will concentrate on dry fibre and resin infusion manufacturing methods and be based at a new facility dubbed Compass (composites at speed and scale), at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Centre (AMRC), Boeing says. The US airframer established AMRC with the university in 2001 and subsequently opened a component manufacturing facility in Sheffield. Spirit AeroSystems' plant in Prestwick and Dorchester-based industrial automation specialist Loop Technology are additional partners in the IHSS effort, which is backed by the UK government via the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI). The Treasury says the project represents an £80 million ($105 million) investment and will be the first of 12 zones across the UK that will receive support to boost advanced manufacturing, life sciences, green industries, technology and the creative sector. Each one the investment zones will involve a university and be supported with £80 million, the Treasury adds. Boeing predicts the IHSS project will initially generate 50 jobs and "has the potential to create 3,000 UK jobs long-term and around £2 billion annually in export opportunities". AMRC chief executive Steve Foxley states: "Building on the long-standing partnership with Boeing, Compass offers a step-change in large scale composite material capability and will continue to transform the UK manufacturing industry for a more sustainable and resilient tomorrow." Spirit highlights that IHSS represents its first research and technology collaboration with Boeing in the UK. The US aerostructures company's Prestwick facility will contribute stringer preform fabrication and inspection technologies to the project. In 2020, Spirit acquired from Bombardier aerostructures manufacturing sites in Belfast, Moroccan city Casablanca and Dallas in the USA. The Belfast site produces composite wings for the Airbus A220 programme.

IATA director general Willie Walsh has labelled London Gatwick the worst-performing major European airport for air traffic control issues this summer. In an update on the sector’s resilience, Walsh notes that amid continent-wide ATC-related delays, the most severe impacts are being felt at Europe’s busiest facilities. Gatwick, he asserts, has been hit particularly hard because it is also facing local ATC issues. He says Gatwick ranks as the worst performer out of 31 major airports and the 106th worst out of 110 in the wider data set. A Gatwick spokesperson responded that flights at the airport are increasingly being regulated at peak times due to the knock-on effects of air traffic control restrictions across numerous parts of Europe. “These restrictions are beyond the control of the airport and have been put in place to manage and smooth out the flow of aircraft arriving from, and departing to, disrupted airspace across Europe. Multiple factors are causing airspace restrictions across Europe, including industrial action, staff shortages, the war in Ukraine and poor weather.” Walsh continues that ATC performance across both Europe and the USA has been disappointing. He points to a lack of national resources, particularly in France and Germany, which has led the continent's ATC performance to lag "unacceptably behind" 2019 levels, although it has improved year on year. "It is disheartening that the politicians who were quick to criticise airlines last year have remained silent about the disruption caused by government controlled or regulated ATC providers," Walsh complains. "What can these politicians do so we don't have another year of European ATC performance below pre-Covid levels? To start, they need to be held accountable for the economic and environmental costs of poor ATC performance, so they have an incentive to make better decisions." He is calling on authorities to address issues with staffing, move forward with the Single European Sky modernisation programme, and find ways to maintain essential ATC services during periods of industrial action. Many airline executives have warned that this year's summer getaway risks being blighted by ATC issues, although the industry's performance so far has been a notable improvement on 2022 when thousands of flights were cancelled because of capacity bottlenecks. Data published on 12 July by air traffic manager Eurocontrol shows that although overall air traffic in Europe was up by 7% in June compared with a year earlier, air traffic flow management delays per flight were down 8% at 3.7min per flight. Traffic levels for the month were “at or above” those of June 2019 for many parts of Europe, it continues, including up to 15% higher in areas of south-east of Europe in particular. “This clear positive trend comes despite the war in Ukraine reducing available airspace and shows that close cooperation between all operational partners in preparation for the summer is delivering a good result and keeping delays to a minimum,” states Eurocontrol. It adds that specific areas are facing constraints because of local issues such as infrastructure or staffing.

Self-proclaimed "carbon transformation" company Twelve has begun building in the US state of Washington a sustainable aviation fuel plant designed to use renewable energy and water to convert CO2 into its branded "E-Jet" fuel. Berkeley, California-based Twelve expects production of E-Jet fuel will begin in mid-2024 at a capacity of five barrels per day (40,000 gallons per year). It adds that as a power-to-liquid SAF with up to 90% lower lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared with petroleum-based jet fuel, E-Jet fuel meets the ASTM International specifications and works with existing aircraft and airport infrastructure. "[E-Jet fuel] faces no real constraints on feedstock, thus offering the best viable long-term solution for addressing GHG and other emissions from the aviation sector," the company says. Attending the 11 July ground-breaking event in Moses Lake, Washington were that state's governor Jay Inslee; Twelve co-founder and chief science officer Etosha Cave; Alaska Airlines VP of strategic sourcing and supply chain Ann Ardizzone; and Brandon Middaugh, senior director of Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund. "We’re proud to welcome Twelve to Washington state," Inslee says. "By producing E-Jet fuel at scale, Twelve will boost our soaring aviation industry and our thriving clean energy economy." In July 2022, Twelve disclosed that Alaska Airlines and Microsoft had signed on as partners in SAF programme. Those two companies, as well as e-commerce firm Shopify, will be the first entities to receive products from the Moses Lake plant under existing agreements, Twelve says.