The Dutch aviation startup ELECTRON Aviation has signed an agreement with Twente Airport as the next step plans to start an emission-free short-haul flight service from 2027.
The startup’s planned fleet of electric air taxis will transport up to four passengers at a time to various European cities within a 500 km radius of the airport.
“To put it bluntly, it will get you to Berlin, London or Paris in less than two hours,” said Josef Mouris, CEO and co-founder of ELECTRON.
The startup’s Electron5 plane, which is still in the prototype phase, will reach speeds of around 300 km/h on a single charge and have a maximum range of 750 km. By using smaller aircraft, the company hopes to quickly expand its fleet.
Tickets are officially 80% sold out
Don’t miss your chance to be part of Europe’s leading tech event
“In order to fly meaningful distances over this decade, we have had to compromise on aircraft size and limit ourselves to five seats. It’s the perfect size, if you think about it, for our on-demand business model,” said Mouris.
An artist’s rendering of the Electric5 air taxi. Photo credit: ELECTRON Aviation
The startup plans to offer a quick and easy service similar to the Uber plane, offering a faster and greener way to travel between major European hubs. The plane requires a runway of 800m to take off, which means it can take off from most regular airports, according to the startup.
Before that was Joseph quoted He said that a 400 km trip in one of his flying taxis would kill you €225. However, the CEO said in a press release yesterday that the aircraft’s “low operating costs” (compared to other low-emission alternatives such as hydrogen) would eventually allow the startup to “match or beat” the price of an economy. class flight ticket.
The startup is part of Electric Flying Connection (EFC), a Dutch consortium of companies that recently submitted a funding application to the Dutch Growth Fund to scale battery-electric flying in the country.
Jan Schuring, CEO of Twente Airport, which joined the consortium this year, said demand for improved connectivity is high in the region, both within the Netherlands and for cross-border travel to Germany, France and the UK.
By integrating ELECTRON Aviation as a second operator, Twente Airport looks to position itself as the airport of choice for electric air taxi startups looking to launch their services in the country.
ELECTRON also signed a similar agreement with Groningen Airport in 2021 and plans to introduce a fleet of battery-electric, zero-emission aircraft at both airports in 2027.
Comments are closed.