Heart Aerospace is a Swedish startup that recently received investments from United Airlines Ventures and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Bill Gates‘ investment company for sustainable energy. United Airlines and Mesa Airlines have agreed to buy 100 ES-19 planes each and intend to deploy them to the market by 2026. United’s purchase is conditional though, being only met if the aircrafts meet their safety, business, and operating requirements.
The ES-19 is a 19-seat electric airliner with a range of 250 miles (402 km). Because of this, the plane is intended only for short regional trips. These trips are beneficial for United, as they have more than 100 regional routes already out of their hubs.
A lot of these shorter routes have been cut out of some airlines simply because of the cost. Electric planes would be cheaper to run, making it possible to have these smaller regional routes to create a bigger travel network.
United has stated that this purchase is in hopes of getting bigger aircrafts down the line. “We expect the short-haul regional air travel market to play a key role in the evolution of the electric aircraft.” said Michael Leskinen, United’s Vice President and UAV’s President. “As battery technology improves, larger-gauge aircraft should become viable but we’re not going to wait to begin the journey” he continued.
These airliners will have zero operational emissions. With aviation having the potential of emitting 27% of the carbon budget by 2050, airlines are under-pressure to commit to carbon-neutral plans. This has led to an increase in electric airliner investment, such as American Airlines planning to buy 250 new electric aircraft from Vertical Aerospace.
The ES-19 also has the potential to have 75% cost savings in fuel. Simple electric motors also reduce the maintenance costs by 90% compared to turboprops. The ES-19 is also suitable for smaller airports, only requiring 750m runways instead of the regular 2,500m required.
Anders Forslund, the CEO of Heart Aerospace said “Electric aircraft are happening now—the technology is already here”. We should see commercial electric planes as soon as in just five years.
Such aircrafts coud be useful in Malaysia. It could mean more access to rural areas, given its size and range. The ES-19 would be a greener alternative to the current 19-seater DHC6 used by MasWings. These small aircraft are seen as a vital lifeline in remote areas that are not accessible by road. There are currently 11 Short Take Off Landing (STOL) ports in both East Malaysian states.
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