Photo Credit: AFP Photo/BENOIT TESSIER
As Jimi Hendrix said, “‘scuse me while I kiss the sky.”
This year, at the biggest, most famous air show and exhibition event in the world, the prestigious Paris Air Show, we’ve seen various innovations that are sure to make waves in the aerospace industry. Here are just three of the most promising ones.
Eviation may be just a startup, but it’s definitely a promising one. The company shook the entire industry with its unveiling of the all-electric plane Alice. The nine-seater battery-powered aircraft is said to be capable of flying short-range to mid-range distances. Test flights should begin soon, but deliveries of the units are currently set for 2022.
Boeing showed off its 787 Dreamliner jet, a large commercial plane capable of flying over long distances. Despite being new, the plane even made the 5,129-mile journey, just less than 2/3 of its full range, non-stop to the Paris Air Show in order to prove how far it could go.
The company has been suffering from the bad rep caused by the recent 737 Max crashes, but Korean Air swooped in to save the day when it ordered 20 units of 787 Dreamliner jets on Tuesday. Meanwhile, IAG, the parent company of British Airways, ordered a whopping 200 units of 737 Max, rumored to have been sold at a discounted rate.
Airbus launched its highly anticipated A321XLR on Monday, a midsize plane that can fly long-range distances. With its smaller than average body, the company touts it as the “economic solution” to airlines whose aim is to fly a longer distance between smaller cities that cannot accommodate bigger planes.
Air Lease Corporation immediately ordered 27 units, along with 50 orders from American Airlines and 32 orders from Indigo Partners. A few other airlines like Cebu Pacific Airlines from the Philippines and Qantas Airways also ordered the new model.
The Paris Air Show is held this year from June 17-23, which means there are still a couple of days left before the companies pack up for the week.
