Electric Power May Transform Regional Airline Business Models

Airline fleets could transition from a dependence on fossil fuels to meet climate change goals, but the move to electric aircraft could cut costs as well.

With its Electric EEL technology demonstrator Ampaire is developing a hybrid-electric propulsion system to convert existing regional airliners. (Photo: Ampaire)

By Charles Alcock • Managing Editor

August 31, 2021

Much of the momentum for introducing electric aircraft to commercial service is a response to mounting pressure to reduce air transport’s impact on the environment and meet targets for reducing the industry’s carbon footprint. But increasingly, the companies developing the aircraft say a strong economic case exists for moving away from dependence on jet-A fuel that promises significant reductions in operating costs and the potential to make short, thin routes viable with smaller aircraft.

Ampaire has begun the next phase of UK-based flight trials for its plans to convert nine- to 19-seat regional airliners, starting with the Twin Otter and the Islander, to hybrid-electric propulsion. The company’s Electric EEL technology demonstrator is operating between Exeter Airport and Cornwall Airport Newquay in the southwest of England to evaluate operational needs for commercial services that the company says could start by 2024. Senior vice president for global operations Susan Ying told AIN that Ampaire has also started work on a clean-sheet design for a hybrid-electric 19-seater.

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