Charles Alcock is managing editor of the AIN Media Group, having rejoined the company in 2019. He has been an aviation journalist since 1986, and previously worked for AIN from 1990 to 2017, most recently as editor-in-chief. His main focus is on covering new aviation technology and business models, as well as international news.
Having been raised in the London area, Alcock studied at the University of Manchester in the UK and earned an honors degree in Politics and Modern History. He speaks English and French, and some German.

Managing Editor

Charles Alcock

Malaysian flight school HM Aerospace has agreed to buy 15 of VoltAero’s Cassio 330 hybrid-electric aircraft. The deal signed on June 18 at the Paris Air Show also covers options for another 15 examples and is subject to the French manufacturer achieving EASA type certification with validation by Malaysia’s civil aviation authorities.
Over the past 20 years, HM Aerospace, which is part of the Halim Mazmin Group, has graduated around 2,400 professional pilots. The company said that its agreement with VoltAero could support a wider ecosystem for hybrid-electric aviation in Malaysia and the Asia-Pacific region.
At the Paris Air Show, VoltAero displayed a full-scale mock-up of the <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2025-06-14/voltaero-unveils-redesigned-hybrid-electric-cassio-330">revised design for the Cassio 330</a>, which now features a series hybrid propulsion system and with a T-tail replacing the earlier twin boom configuration. The company, which is aiming to achieving type certification under CS23 rules in 2027, is also developing the larger Cassio 480 and 600 models. The aircraft have a pair of pusher propellers on each side of the aft fuselage.
VoltAero has established a manufacturing facility at Rochefort Airport in the southwest of France. The Nouvelle-Aquitaine regional government was one of its original financial backers.
The deal with HM Aerospace takes VoltAero’s backlog of provisional orders to 280. Other customers intend to use the aircraft for regional air services.

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

Malaysian Flight School Orders VoltAero's Hybrid-Electric Cassio Aircraft

HM Aerospace could take up to 30 of the aircraft to train pilots

VoltAero signed a purchase agreement with Malaysian flight training group HM Aerospace for its redesigned Cassio 330 hybrid-electric aircraft.

Malaysian Flight School Orders VoltAero's Cassio 330

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

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News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

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Essential news and analysis on the defense aerospace business. Your trusted source for new and ongoing programs and requirements in military aircraft (manned and unmanned), engines, avionics, weapons and associated systems, including ground-based air defense.

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News about commercial airlines, including regulations, aircraft orders, safety, acquisitions, and mergers.

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

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News and issues about aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), covering all segments of the aviation industry; and modifications for aircraft and engines. Subjects include product support of aircraft, engines and avionics, MRO company mergers, acquisitions, announcements and personnel, Airworthiness Directives, Supplemental Type Certificate approvals and other topics.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

The company previously offered only flight training

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News and issues concerning the aviation charter and fractional-ownership industries and markets, including company announcements, regulations, new developments and labor issues.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Paris Air Show 2025

More In Training and Workforce

People in Aviation - August 2025

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U.S./Italian partnership will compete with Boeing’s T-7A and Lockheed Martin T-50A

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Thrust Flight adds A&P, Dispatcher Training

The company previously offered only flight training

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15 young people will start the program with a week’s training at London Biggin Hill Airport

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