INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Passengers would board a train-like tube at a neighborhood station (Representational)It sounds like something Q, the tech guy in James Bond
movies, would create: A plane that lands on a runway, shrugs its wings off, turns into a train and rolls on to rails to drop you off at your
local station.That's what a French entrepreneur, who's made millions by connecting engineers with industrial groups, is pitching to Boeing
"Link Fly" is Akka Technologies's new flagship aircraft design, with wings that come off to hasten turnover at airports and make boarding
easier and closer to passengers' homes."After cars go electric and autonomous, the next big disruption will be in airplanes," Akka's Chief
Executive Officer Maurice Ricci said in an interview in Paris
Boeing is among prime customer targets for Akka, as it seeks to limit its dependence on the likes of Airbus SE and Renault SA in Europe.With
Akka's futuristic concept, passengers would board a train-like tube at a neighborhood station and have their retinas scanned for security
during the ride to the airport
Wings would then be attached to the pod for take-off
The company has showcased the idea in a 3D mock-up video, gathering interest from potential customers in Asia, Ricci said, without naming
any company.Disruptive FlightsPlane makers have begun to react as technology companies come up with disruptive ideas -- from Uber's
investments in flying taxis to Kitty Hawk, a startup backed by Google's co-founder Larry Page that's creating a battery-powered
Airbus took the offensive with a new division to oversee transport of the future, while Boeing has made a noisy foray into jetpacks.While
Akka's not banking on convincing a plane maker to necessarily build the entire "Link Fly" concept, it's betting on the design to be an
attention grabber and a showcase, parts of which are likely to end up in customers' commercial aircrafts down the line.Click here to watch
Akka's marketing video for "Link Fly."For planemakers and the companies gravitating around them Asia, and especially China, offer
opportunities for new business
Chinese plane builder Comac is developing its own fleet, and could turn to the European aeronautics ecosystem for technology partners.Akka,
which has a market value of 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) and whose biggest shareholder is Ricci, employs engineers that customers can
hire on a project basis as consultants
The company developed an autonomous car concept in 2008 and in 2014 partnered with Dassault Systemes to offer services to carmakers.The
stock has risen about 23 percent this year, multiple times the 1.8 percent increase in the benchmark CAC 40 Index and a matching jump in the
MarketSimilar to Airbus' A320 jet in size and target usage, the Akka Link Fly carriage for short-range flights carries 162 passengers and
the seats can be taken out to move freight instead
With the wings clipped on, and the engines fixed on top, the design has wingspan of about 49 meters, is 34 meters long and 8 meters
high.Akka generates 75 percent of its sales in France and Germany and became more dependent on auto manufacturing with the takeover of a
Daimler engineering unit about seven years ago
The Paris-based company hopes its new concept will woo new aeronautics customers in the U.S
The purchase of Texas-based engineering firm PDS Tech in June is a first step
Ricci expects the acquisition to close in three to six months
"Planes need to become more efficient, less polluting and less noisy," said Ricci
"Our role is to point our customers to technologies of the future."(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by
TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
