Page 49 - World Airnews Magazine December 2020

NEWS DIGITAL

CHAPMAN FREEBORN RESPONDS

TO HEAVY DEMAND

500% since the beginning of the pandemic). 20,000 masks and 240,000 gloves from
These masks are being transported around China to Lithuania, onboard one of its
Recently global charter broker the world to support the medical response. VIP-config B737s.
company, Chapman Freeborn has experi- Pierre Vanders, Chapman Freeborn cargo
enced a surge in cargo charter requests for director, comments: ABOUT CHAPMAN FREEBORN
humanitarian cargo and medical supplies “We are all extremely busy with requests The Chapman Freeborn group was
(typically N95 respirators) from China into for urgent cargo leaving China. Not only our established in the UK in 1973.
Europe and Africa. European and African offices but our offices The company has offices worldwide.
This comes after an extremely busy week in North America also. In the cargo market, Chapman Freeborn
of EU-USA rotations to counter the demand “The biggest issue that we’re facing is Airchartering specialises in the charter
created by President Trump’s passenger capacity - there is a real shortage. However, and lease of aircraft for a wide-ranging
travel ban – utilising in-house assets to we’ve managed to fix a number of imme- customer base, including freight
bring capacity to the market. diate flights using cancellations (due to forwarders, multinational corporations,
Now, the broker teams across Chapman transit delays within China).” governments, humanitarian agencies and a
Freeborn’s European and African offices are Mr Vanders adds: host of industries around the globe.
working with their counterparts in China “I’m incredibly proud of the team that In addition to freight services, Chapman
and Singapore to facilitate hundreds of we have here – we’ve all been working Freeborn offers specialist passenger
tons of critical aid supplies into affected around the clock to ensure that these services including private jet charters for
areas. critically-needed supplies get to where they executive travel and large aircraft for crew
China is the world’s largest producer of need to be.” rotations and international group travel.
medical face masks, with over 100 million Across the group, sister company, Klasjet Chapman Freeborn is a family member of
manufactured per day (increased by around has recently completed a shipment of Avia Solutions Group. Q

NEWS DIGITAL THE ALTIUS-900

The drone can also be dropped
out of the back of a cargo
aircraft. Credit: Area-I

utilizing advanced hybrid technology. The series of hybrid propul-
sion system provides improved performance, including high-speed
Area-I from the state of Georgia – an American company dash capabilities and extended operations.
working for the military since 2009, is starting trials of its largest The Altius-900 aims to be one of the many futuristic concepts
flying drone – the ALTIUS-900. The drone is an agile-launched, of combat platform in the air-and-land space. The Altius-900 is
compressed carriage, high endurance UAS capable of carrying a powered by a hybrid-electric engine that runs on heavy fuel to
carry out reconnaissance for 15 hours over a distance of 620 miles
variety of payloads. (1,000 km). Weighing 36.3 kg, the drone can also be dropped out
ALTIUS-900 shares the same technology and framework as the of the back of a cargo aircraft, so it is equipped with foldable wings
more TRL mature ALTIUS-600 while providing increased endurance with a span of 6.1 meters.
and next-generation power system technology. It will be carried by Besides, the Altius-900 is equipped with thermal imaging and
larger UAVs or airplanes on standard under-wing pylons designed optoelectronic devices to support aircraft – such as the AC-130J
for bombs weighing up to 1,000-pounds (454 kg). In particular, Ghostrider or future reconnaissance and combat helicopters. The
these are used on the MQ-9 Reaper strike drones. idea is that combat drones or manned aircraft could reconnoiter
The Integrated Multi-Mode Propulsion UAS Leveraging Speed their targets without having to expose themselves to fire in the
and Endurance, or IMPULSE, is a propulsion system for ALTIUS-900 defense zone of a potential enemy. Q

World Airnews | December Extra 2020
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