Flight International 2021 12.pdf

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FlightGlobal.com
December 2021
Uncle
Roger’s festive
quiz awaits
Position
of power
US military leads way in our
World Air Forces review
p46
Speed machine
Rolls-Royce
charges past
electric record
p14
Sales take off at
Dubai air show
p6
Airbus chief Faury
eyes recovery
p10
9
£4.99
770015 371327
Regional move
Embraer sets
course for cut
in emissions
p24
1 2
Comment
Bouncing back?
There was a pleasant sense
of a return to normality at
the Dubai air show, with
triple-digit orders once
again unveiled, but whether
this recovery will endure
remains to be seen
Jon Gambrell/AP/Shutterstock
S
quint and it looked just like
any other air show: the rows
of new aircraft, the chalet
lines, the crowds, and above
it all, the beautiful cacophony of
the flying display.
And, yes, Dubai boasted the
same triple-digit orders as air
shows past; another signal, the
argument goes, that airlines – and
by extension, aerospace – are in
recovery; apparently more jets are
the answer, not fewer.
But reminders of the industry’s
troubles were never far away. On
the other side of the airport from
the show site row upon row of
Emirates jets remain parked up, still
yet to be reactivated.
And although the crowds were
back, masks remain de rigueur – a
sign that optimism alone cannot kill
the virus.
It was instructive as well to
look at who exactly was ordering
those new aircraft, and what they
plan to take. By and large those
blockbuster deals were placed by
well-funded low-cost carriers for
single-aisle jets, as they look to
capitalise on the financial weak-
ness of their full-service peers.
Indeed, in a sign of continued
nervousness, the news of soaring
Covid case rates and a return to
lockdowns in some European coun-
tries that emerged as the show
wound up was enough to send
shares in airlines tumbling again.
Cargo also continues to offer
positive momentum: Airbus se-
cured a launch customer for its
A350 freighter in Dubai and Boeing
announced yet more conversion
lines for the 737-800.
Although the 777X was un-
doubtedly a star of the show, Boe-
ing stayed silent on its plans for a
freighter variant. But with its great
rival having moved first, all the
signs are that development of the
-8 will be pushed further to the
right in favour of a 777XF.
Overall, relief seemed to be the
overriding emotion in Dubai – relief
that the industry had endured and
was now poised to bounce back.
That feeling tumbled out in press
conference after press conference
which opened with the phrase
“it’s fantastic to be here in person
again”, or a version of it.
Discounting the ghostly event
that was the 2020 Singapore air
show, Dubai in 2019 was the last
big industry gathering before the
coronavirus took hold.
That the 2021 edition felt like
something of a return to normali-
ty – a book-end to the pandemic,
perhaps – was welcome; a sign that
vaccines and immunity are slowly
having an impact.
But the resurgence of the virus in
Europe shows that Covid-19 is not
yet behind us. Quite what normali-
ty will look like remains to be seen.
With that in mind, the industry
must be cautious that all the signs
of recovery generated amidst the
heat and light of the desert do not
turn out to be nothing more than
a mirage.
◗
See p6
December 2021
Flight International
3
In focus
777X’s Dubai debut
6
Fighting for business
8
Faury gets Airbus ready
for better times
10
ACCEL’s electrification push
14
ATR offers a little eXTra
17
Orders boost MRTT backlog
19
More F-16s could resolve
Turkish spat
22
US eyes combat trainers
23
Dreamliner has fuselage rework
‘in the rear-view mirror’
28
Investigators flag icing dangers
after Fond-du-Lac crash
35
ZeroAvia shows future focus
36
GKN’s strong structure in UK
38
Cathay’s ocean of troubles
39
Lunar rover
40
64
High and dry?
Try our festive quiz
FlightGlobal.com
December 2021
Uncle
Roger’s festive
quiz awaits
14
£4.99
Position
of power
US military leads way in our
World Air Forces review
p46
Sales take off at
Dubai air show
p6
Airbus chief Faury
eyes recovery
p10
9
770015 371327
US Air Force
Speed machine
Rolls-Royce
charges past
electric record
p14
Regional move
Embraer sets
course for cut
in emissions
p24
Regulars
Comment
3
Best of the rest
42
Straight & Level
74
Letters
76
Jobs
80
Women in aviation
82
4
Flight International
December 2021
1 2
Contents
In depth
Falling down
46
How Afghanistan’s fall
brought change to annual
World Air Forces review
Bowing out
54
Some of the most notable
national fleet retirements
Reapers at risk
56
General Atomics Aeronautical
Systems’ self-protection
updates for large UAVs
Striking back
60
The UK tests out its restored
carrier strike capability
The test of times
64
For our festive quiz we
have compiled 50 fiendish
multiple-choice questions,
designed to test your memory
of 2021’s notable events and
the broader world of aviation
60
46
10
December 2021
Flight International
5

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