Airbus, Boeing Expected to Turn to Hybrid Engine Technology for New Planes-Lessor

GetUp, Activist Groups Distort Senator’s Tough Stance on CCP as Racism, Call for Condemnation

Grassroots activist group GetUp has filed a petition for the prime minister to denounce Liberal Senator Eric Abetz for asking three Chinese Australians whether they were willing to condemn the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The petition has allegedly garnered over 25,000 signatures and was delivered to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s official residence Kirribilli House last week by representatives from GetUp, the Asian Australian Alliance, and Per Capita. The latter two organisations also sent a joint letter to Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge calling for Senator Abetz to apologise for his questions. The Australian Values Alliance, a pro-democracy group comprised of Chinese Australians (many who have suffered at the hands of the CCP) has hit back, sending an open letter to the prime minister, criticising the campaign against Abetz as “unfounded”…

Airbus SE and Boeing Co are expected to turn to hybrid electric technology when they develop the next generation of airplanes because of limits on improving current engines, the head of a major aircraft lessor said on Thursday.

Airbus is already working hard on a hybrid solution but Boeing is likely to be more cautious about making a major investment in a new program given its challenges with the return of the 737 MAX and certification of the 777X, Air Lease Corp Chief Executive Steven Udvar-Hazy said at the Skift Aviation Forum.

“I have serious doubts that either Boeing or Airbus can design an all new airplane using current aerodynamic engine technologies that can have a meaningful—let’s call it double-digit advantage over what we already have,” he said in reference to fuel efficiency. “So what I see evolving is more of a hybrid.”

Airbus, Boeing Expected to Turn to Hybrid Engine Technology for New Planes-Lessor

Udvar-Hazy said hybrid engines would allow for a lighter aircraft weight, as well as a technology transition rather than a step change.

“Almost like we didn’t go from all piston engine and diesel cars to all electric cars,” he said. “There’s that transition with hybrids that have a smaller gasoline engine and then an electric augmentation engine, like the Prius for the example.”

Airbus said last year it was considering producing a hybrid plane by 2035 as it strives for a low-emission aircraft, while Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC said in March it expected hybrid planes carrying around 100 people to be flying commercially by 2029.

Boeing did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Boeing’s director of environmental strategy Sean Newsum said in January that scaling up hybrid technology to a 737-sized plane could take decades, though hybrid-powered regional planes could enter service in the 2030s, according to a FlightGlobal report.

By Tracy Rucinski and Jamie Freed

Focus News: Airbus, Boeing Expected to Turn to Hybrid Engine Technology for New Planes-Lessor

MPs Press Officials on Beijing-Linked Nuctech Bid to Supply Security Equipment to Canada’s Embassies

Opposition MPs pressed government officials on Wednesday to explain why a Chinese state-owned company embroiled in alleged bribery scandals was awarded a standing offer to supply security equipment to Canada’s embassies. In July, high-tech Chinese company Nuctech was awarded a $6.8 million contract with the federal government to install X-ray security equipment for 170 Canadian embassies, consulates, and high commissions around the world. But the deal raised immediate concerns related to security due to Nuctech’s connection to the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), having been founded by the son of former CCP leader Hu Jintao, as well as its links to the Chinese military. “My problem is still that the Government of Canada accepted to go forward with a request for standing offer with Nuctech,” Conservative MP…