To make the case for its blended-wing-body Kona cargo aircraft, Natilus is partnering with Swiss logistics group Kuehne+Nagel International to study the environmental, economic, and operational impact it could have on commercial freight operations.
According to Natilus, the blended-wing-body (BWB) design of the Kona aircraft enables a 30% reduction in fuel consumption through aerodynamic efficiency gains while increasing payload capacity by 40%.
Kuehne+Nagel provides freight forwarding services for more than 400,000 customers around the world, transporting goods by air, sea, road, and rail. “At Kuehne+Nagel, we have consistently led the way in making air freight logistics more sustainable, and this collaboration with Natilus is another example of how we continue to explore new technologies for more environmentally friendly and cost-effective air cargo solutions,” said Holger Ketz, Kuehne+Nagel’s global head of network and carrier management.
In their joint study, Kuehne+Nagel and Natilus will collaborate with partner air carriers as they attempt to quantify the various benefits of integrating Kona aircraft into cargo airline fleets.
“Obviously, the Natilus airplanes help address a lot of [sustainability] issues and create the technology leverage that we need to reduce emissions, but the question of how much and how does it actually work within networks, that’s been a really tough question to answer for a lot of these airlines,” Natilus co-founder and CEO Aleksey Matyushev told AIN. “This is what this study is all about.”
“What I want this [study] to show is that sustainability and economics and profitability all go hand in hand,” he said, adding that airlines tend to prioritize profitability over sustainability. “I think there’s a way to intertwine those two together where everybody wins.”
Natilus, which is based in San Diego, has already flown a subscale technology demonstrator and is now building the first full-scale prototype of the Kona cargo freighter, which is slated to fly in 2026. It aims to have the Kona certified and in service by 2028 and holds purchase agreements with several airline customers for a total of 580 aircraft, worth a potential $23 billion.
Although Natilus has not yet selected a location for a scaled manufacturing facility, the company has begun planning production processes and supply chains. In partnership with data analysts at Palantir Technologies, Natilus is developing an artificial intelligence-based operating system to streamline all aspects of its business, including everything from design, engineering, and manufacturing activities to supply chain management and certification paperwork.
“The U.S. desperately needs a boost in aircraft manufacturing, and Natilus is operating at the forefront of sustainable aircraft manufacturing,” Matyushev said. “We made a commitment to build the first manufacturing facility for the world’s most efficient commercial aircraft here in the U.S. Our success hinges on accelerating our production capabilities, and leveraging Palantir’s AI-driven platform will allow us to transform our manufacturing operations to run more efficiently and meet customer demand for the cargo and passenger markets.”