This summer it will be possible to commute between Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany by electric flight, thanks to a new joint project by Aachen University of Applied Sciences Flight Academy, Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) and European and Chinese commercial partners, ASL and NIO.
The cities of Liège, Maastricht and Aachen, less than 40km apart, will now be connected by the Electrify project’s so-called “fly green, travel clean” zero-emissions flights.
How to book?
Would-be flyers can book to fly the 40 kilometres between cities on the Electrifly app, a booking platform that also offers door-to-door electric ground transportation too, if required. One condition though is that the pick-up and drop-off locations must fall inside the Electrify project zone.
Operated aboard a Slovenian-built, two-seater Pipistret Velis Electro electric aircraft, the seat capacity will be limited to one pilot and one passenger, and the route constrained to 40km, partly due to the heavy lithium-ion batteries required.
Growth in the sector
“Electric flights are still a rarity at the moment,” said Wouter Dewulf, an aviation economist at the University of Antwerp reported by Belga. “So far, these planes have been used mainly for training purposes, mainly in Liège and Antwerp. The planes can stay in the air for about 50 minutes.”
But with strong advances being made in electric energy storage and new battery technology, Dewulf pointed out the electric aviation sector could follow in the footsteps of the electric car, and look forward to enormous growth over the next 10 to 15 years. Future developments over the next decade could include electric aircraft with capacity for 89 passengers that can fly as far as 500 to 600km, if research by Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands sees fruit.
A “first”, “big” step
Described by Dewulf as “a first step towards electrifying part of the aircraft fleet”, the aim of the project is to demonstrate the potential of the regional electric flights as part of a multi-modal travel experience. The three-country model will provide a window onto cross-border issues around all-electric aircraft, including air traffic control and handling procedures, infrastructure needs and regulation.
Jonas van Stekelenburg, Managing Director of MST, hailed the advent of the flights as “a big step forward in Maastricht Airport’s mission to facilitate zero-emission flights available to the public. We are opening the door to sustainable air connections between regional airports, collaborating with mobility and aviation partners who share our zero-emission transportation goals.”