Air Nostrum and CityJet have created a regional alliance, four years after a proposed link-up between the two companies was first cleared by European regulators. The two airlines plus Ireland-based wet-lease specialist Hibernian have created a holding company named the Strategic Alliance of Regional Airlines (SARA), Air Nostrum revealed as part of its annual results. SARA also includes an aircraft maintenance company, training centre and four other aviation service providers. Air Nostrum is franchised to fly for Iberia under the Iberia Regional brand, connecting to 59 destinations with a fleet of 48 aircraft – most of them Bombardier-built CRJs. CityJet is an Ireland-based wet lease specialist that flies on behalf of airlines such as SAS and Lufthansa, operating around 25 CRJ aircraft, according to its website. Hibernian Airlines operates three CRJ1000s for wet lease and charter, according to the European Reginal Airlines Association. Described as a “strategic union” between the companies, SARA will form the largest group of reginal airlines Europe, Air Nostrum says. It represents a looser arrangement than was first mooted back in 2019 when EU competition authorities approved a joint venture between CityJet owner Fortress Investment Group and Air Nostrum’s owner, Air Investment Valencia, a deal that would have seen the two company’s activities combined. Implementation of that proposal was delayed because of the pandemic, but competition authorities then approved it again in March, noting that although the two firms operated in the same area, as their market shares are relatively small there would be no negative impact on competitiveness. "SARA will act as a holding company, assisting and coordinating each of the alliance companies, which will continue to be independent entities, with a brand and own structures,” explains Air Nostrum managing director Carlos Bertomeu. Each of the companies linked to SARA will continue to have its headquarters in their own country and with their own employees, as in the past, he adds. Each member of the alliance will need to meet its own financial obligations and there will be no transfer of funds between them, the airline adds. Air Nostrum reported a pre-tax profit of €19.6 million ($20.1 million) for 2022 on revenue of €494.2 million, marking a return to profitability following two years of losses. “The strong increase in turnover is has been due to the high demand registered since the second quarter of 2022,” it states, noting that it is in the process of paying back Covid-era state support. Passenger numbers rose to 4.4 million from 2.9 million in 2021.

Air Canada has ordered 36 GE Aerospace GEnx-1B engines plus four spares to power its forthcoming fleet of Boeing 787-10 aircraft. The order includes options for additional 24 GEnx-1B engines, the US engine maker says. The flag carrier operates eight 787-8 aircraft and 30 787-9s, fleets data shows, all powered by GEnx engines. Air Canada in September announced a firm order for 18 787-10s, along with options for an additional 12 aircraft. The Star Alliance member says deliveries of the aircraft are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2025 and would run through the first quarter of 2027.

Boeing is collaborating with NASA and United Airlines to evaluate the impact of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on contrails and non-carbon emissions during flight tests. The US airframer says its second ecoDemonstrator Explorer, a Boeing 737-10 destined for United, will fly with 100% SAF and conventional jet fuel in separate tanks and alternate fuels during the trials. It adds that NASA's DC-8 airborne science lab will fly behind the 737 and measure emissions produced by each type of fuel and contrail ice particles, while NASA satellites will capture images of contrail formation. World Energy will supply SAF for the tests from its facility in Paramount, California, with support from the US Federal Aviation Administration, GE Aerospace and the German aerospace research centre DLR. DLR previously completed similar flight trials with Airbus, to measure emissions at altitude. The objective of the US effort is to understand how advanced fuels, engine combustor designs and other technologies may reduce atmospheric warming. The project is part of a multi-year partnership between Boeing and NASA to analyse SAF benefits. "We've solved hard problems before, and if we continue to take meaningful actions, I'm confident we'll achieve a more sustainable aerospace future together," states Boeing chief sustainability officer Chris Raymond. His counterpart at United, Lauren Riley, says: "This collaboration between Boeing, NASA and United has the potential to not only help us better understand contrails but to provide the full scope of what our transition to SAF can provide beyond greenhouse-gas reductions." Boeing and NASA conducted SAF emissions ground testing on an Alaska Airlines 737-9 in 2021, and ecoDemonstrator 777-200ER and 787-10 flight-test jets in 2022. The airframer has a target of delivering aircraft compatible with 100% SAF by 2030.