Harbour Air made the first step in being able to successfully fly a full-flight electric plane.
The short-haul flight was from Fraser River Terminal to Patrica Bay on Vancouver Island, which lasted 24 minutes and completed 45 miles (72 km) purely run on electric power and still had ample power left.
Harbour Air is the largest seaplane airline in North America and claims to transport around half a million passengers across 30,000 commercial flights each year.
“I am excited to report that this historic flight on the electric plane went exactly as planned. Our team as well as the team at magniX and Transport Canada are always closely monitoring the aircraft’s performance and today’s flight further proved the safety and reliability of what we have built.”- Kory Paul, Harbour Air’s Vice President of Flight Operations and one of the company’s test pilots.
The future for Harbour Air
As many other commercial airlines are leaning more toward sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), Harbour Air is setting the bar for the possibility to have short-haul flights run on electric power as it is just as sustainable and safe. The goal for the airline is to fully be operational on electric power. The company since then has been testing, certifying, and approving the aircraft with US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transport Canada.
In December 2019, the modified De Havilland Beaver took off to complete the first successful flight of an all-electric commercial aircraft, a brief jaunt above the Fraser River at Harbour Air’s terminal in Richmond, British Columbia.
The seaplane airline appears to be on track to becoming the world’s all-electric airline.
The aviation industry is at a goal to be at net zero in carbon emissions by 2050. Do you think they are on the right track?
Let us know your thoughts.
It would seem that battery technology is developing very fast. Hydrogen v battery looks like an interesting duel .Well done