Editor’s Note

It is no longer science fiction, or a fantasy of mankind! Cars that can fly will be soon seen plying on the roads and flying in the air. Straight out of comic books and sci-fi movies, flying cars are here and will be a game changer in mobility. Operating within the existing urban infrastructure, they are expected to redefine the personal transportation landscape. In this issue of the magazine, Ayushee Chaudhary profiles the major flying cars in the offing and the kind of innovations that have been carried out to make flying cars a reality. In another feature, Ayushee covers the innovations taking place in technology leading to the development of new and more advanced platforms in a feature on Next Gen Airliners.

Another major area in aviation where innovation is happening is the aircraft propulsion. The goal set by the civil aviation industry is to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 to avert the possibility of climate change. The focus of the industry is to develop aero engines that are more fuel efficient which will not only reduce emissions, but also reduce consumption of fuel thereby lowering operating costs as well. This issue of the magazine carries an article on the subject by Joseph Noronha. There is second article on this subject in this issue of the magazine by Isha Jaiswal that has in depth coverage of the problem and the steps that the industry has taken to improve fuel efficiency to reduce carbon emission.

With a marked drop in cases of infection by the Coronavirus, the restrictions imposed on air travel were being lifted. Unfortunately, with the emergence of new variants of the Coronavirus, governments in a number of countries across the world, have once again imposed restrictions on air travel. This issue of SP’s AirBuz carries a detailed analysis by Ayushee Chaudhary on the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the global airline industry and what the industry should expect as the new normal.

Boeing has a highly optimistic forecast for the global airline industry after the world recovers from the COVID-19 Pandemic. Boeing expects air passenger traffic in India to double by the end of the current decade leading to a four-fold increase in the size of the fleet presently with the airline industry in India. This issue of the magazine carries the annual Boeing forecast by Rohit Goel, of the prospects of rise in demand for air travel leading to growth of the global as well as the Indian airline industry and the consequent need for new airliners as well as trained manpower.

All this and more in this issue of SP’s AirBuz. Welcome aboard and we wish you many happy landings!

Jai Hind!