b'18American Journal of Transportation ajot.comAIR C ARGOAIR CARGONEWSNEWSAirbus turboprop design gaining favorMHT and Aeroterm to develop as first hydrogen plane multitenant cargo facilityM a n c h e s t e r- B o s t o nabilitytobeasignificantrev-Aturbopropdesignisgainingmomentumspokeswomansaidinemailedcomments.TheRegional Airport (MHT) andenuesourceforMHT,further within Airbus SE as the solution to its challengecompany expects to make a final decision betweenAerotermhaveannouncedthatlower airline operating costs and of developing a hydrogen jet by 2035, according to2024 and 2025, she added. they have entered into a groundstrengthen the position of the Air-people familiar with the matter. WhileAirbusmovesaheadwithitszero- leasetodevelopamultitenantport within the region.The propeller plane would carry around 100emissionplans,Boeinghassaidthathydrogencargo facility at the Airport overThe ground lease can sup-passengers for about 1,000 nautical milesroughlytechnology is still decades away, and is focused onthe next three years. port up to a 100,000 square foot the distance between Rome and Dublin. Its seen asdevelopingplanesthatcanusesustainableavia- The new building will pro- buildingandthreewidebody the option most capable of meeting Airbus aggres- tion fuels. Airbus has hinted that it too may makevideaconvenientaccesspointaircraftparkingpositions.The sive goal of introducing a zero-emission plane byupgrades to its existing narrow-body models as anforcargocompaniestoreachfacility will be located just off the middle of the next decade, said the people, whointerim step before turning to hydrogen. all areas in Northern New Eng- the9,250-footprimaryrunway asked not to be named because a formal decision island as well as northern Massa- for easy access. The Airport is still several years away. c liMateP ressure chusetts and the Greater Bostonconvenientlylocatednextto Airbus unveiled three design concepts includ- TheturboprophasalwaysbeenseenastheArea. Aeroterm, MHTs partnerInterstates 93 and 293, the F.E. ing the turboprop last September, when it said itmost do-able carbon-neutral option for Airbus tointheproject,isanexpertinEverettTurnpikeandRoutes would focus on hydrogen technology to tackle themeet its goal of a 2035 debut, given the technol- facility-relatedservicestoair- 101and3,creatingagreat problem of growing carbon-dioxide emissions. Noogy and range requirements, one of the people said.ports across North America andopportunity for transportation of final decision has been made on which design to takeThe technology that would be used in this model ishas a reputation for understand- cargo to the surrounding area.forward, the people said, but the company is begin- already available and the biggest challenges wouldingtheaircargomarketandWe are proud to take part ning to evaluate the potential of each proposal. be bringing down the cost and scaling it up for thebuilding efficient cargo facilities. inthisveryexcitingproject, Theothertwodesignsarefora200-seatneeds of a passenger aircraft, said another person. We are excited about thesaidAlexiLachambre,Vice blended wing, which Airbus has already said itsTheaviationindustryisundertremendouspotentialthisfacilitywilladdPresidentofInvestmentsfor toourcargohandlingcapa- Aeroterm. MHTs leaders have bilities,said AirportDirectorproven to be dynamic and vision-TedKitchens, A. A.E.Withary partners, keen to capitalize close to four million additionalon the surge of e-commerce and square feet of distribution cen- createeconomicopportunity tersplannedwithin20milesfortheirbroadercommunity. ofMHT,thiscargofacilityDemand for air cargo, primarily willallowManchester-Bostondue to e-commerce, is continu-Regional Airport to leverage ouring to grow at a staggering pace. all-weatherrunwayapproachGiventhelevelofcongestion capabilities to efficiently movein the regional distribution net-e-commerce to the five millionwork, we expect the project with customers that live within twoMHTsworld-classinfrastruc-hours of our Airport. turewillgarnertheinterestof Kitchens said that MHT hasmajor logistics players.hadtwoback-to-backrecord- Besidesbeingavaluable breaking years of cargo volumeseconomicboostforMHTand and hopes to increase this eventhe surrounding community, the morethroughthepartnershipnewcargofacilitywillbenefit with Aeroterm. its tenants through various New Comingofftworecord- Hampshire tax advantages.highyearsforcargo,thisnewThe project will also have facility will help propel the Man- a positive economic impact on unlikelytopursuefirstduetothechallengesofpressure to curb carbon dioxide output. Long leadchester-Boston Regional Airportthesurroundingcommunity certification, and a more-familiar-looking turbofantimes for products and the technological difficul- towards even more record-break- throughthecreationofaddi-approach, which could fly more than 2,000 nauti- ties involved means progress has been slower thaninggrowthincargoactivity,tional employment opportunities cal milesabout two-thirds as far as the companysin the automotive industry, for example, which isadded Manchester Mayor Joycein order to build and operate the mainstay A320 single-aisle jets. accelerating its shift toward electric cars. Craig. This partnership has thenew facility.Aturbopropplane,whileeasiertodevelop,Airbusisbeingpushedbyitshomegovern-would address a niche market, making it less ofments in France and Germany, its biggest sharehold-athreattoconventionaljetsthatgofartheranders, to accelerate development of more sustainableEVA Air grows its partnership faster. Should Airbus choose this approach, it mightaircraft. The two countries have committed some 2.5 ease pressure on U.S. rival Boeing Co. to matchbillion euros ($3 billion) to cleaner propulsion. with WFS with new contract its ambitions with hydrogen, and focus near-termWhiletheToulouse,France-basedcompany competition between the two dominant planemak- maybeabletospeedthetimeline,thehurdlesin Seattleers on conventional aircraft. remain significant. Commercialization will require All of the studies are progressing well andcreating a whole hydrogen infrastructure and bring- EVA Air has signed a newWFSglobalpassenger,cargo we are not in a position to communicate further oning down the cost sufficiently to persuade airlinethree-yearcargohandlingcon- and ramp handling services for which concept is the most promising, an Airbuscustomers to make the switch. tractwithWorldwideFlightEVA Air. Aswellashandling Services(WFS)inSeattle,morethan83millionkilosof extendingthetwocompaniesair cargo per year for the airline more than 15 years of partner- in North America through other Kenya Airways ramps up cargo capacityship in North America. contractscoveringNewark, TheagreementseesWFSNew YorkJFK,Houston,Chi-for peak flower season take responsibility for handlingcago, Pittsburgh and Los Ange-all cargo onboard the Taiwaneseles,andprovidingpassenger Kenya AirwaysPlcincreasedcargocapacityone of its biggest foreign-exchange earners. airlines daily Boeing 777 pas- services in New York and Chi-afteritsrival,Ethiopian Airlines,wasallowedtoAslongaswehavefreshproducewhichsenger flights connecting Taipeicago, EVA is also a customer of deploy more freighters to help carry Kenyan flowersneeds to be airlifted, we will continue licensingandSeattle-TacomaInterna- WFS in Paris, Frankfurt, Barce-to Europe ahead of Valentines Day this weekend. even foreign aircraft because what is most impor- tionalAirport.WFSalreadylona, Madrid and Valencia, and TheKenyanairlineadaptedapassengertant is to have aircraft carrying produce from here,holdscontractswithEVAAirin Hong Kong.Boeing 787 Dreamliner to start carrying cargo, andKenyan Transport Secretary James Macharia saidattheairportforbelow-wingInadditiontonewbusi-help meet more flower orders. The conversion andon Monday. It is secondary whether it is KenyaramphandlingservicesforitsnessfromEVAAir,WFSin increased flight frequencies will add as much asAirways or any other airline. passenger operations as well asSeattlehasalsorecentlywon 40% capacity, the carriers Chief Executive OfficerWe still have a challenge with the freighters,ramp and cargo handling of thenewcargohandlingcontracts Allan Kilavuka said. KenyaFlowerCouncilChiefExecutiveOfficerairlines freighter flights. withbothAlohaCargoand The government, which owns 49% of KenyaClement Tulezi said. We have talked to the KenyaOverall,WFSexpectstoPolar Air Cargo. In total, WFS Airways, allowed the carriers competitor to deployCivil Aviation Authorityandtheyhaveallowedhandle some 12 million kilos ofnow handles more than 28 mil-additionalfreightersontheNairobi-Amster- Ethiopia to come in and provide much more capac- air cargo annually for EVA Airlion kilos a year for eight airline dam route to ease capacity constraints. Kenya isity every week because Kenya Airways could notin Seattle. customers at its two facilities at Europes biggest supplier of cut flowers, which aregive us everything we needed. Thenewcontractexpandsthe airport.'