FutureFlight
Surf Air Plans Hybrid-Electric Cessna Grand Caravan Private Flight Fleet
Private air transportation group Surf Air Mobility says it will buy 150 Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft and replace their Pratt & Whitney PT6 turbine engines with an as-yet unspecified hybrid-electric powertrain in 2024.
Cessna Grand Caravan
Surf Air Mobility plans to buy up to 150 Cessna Grand Caravan EX aircraft and convert them to hybrid-electric propulsion for its network of private flight providers. (Photo: Cessna)

Surf Air Mobility has committed to buying up to 150 Cessna Grand Caravan EX single-engine utility turboprop aircraft from Textron Aviation and plans to replace their Pratt & Whitney PT6 turbine engines with hybrid-electric propulsion systems beginning in 2024.

The provisional order announced on Tuesday is for 100 firm and 50 options for the Grand Caravan EX, with deliveries to begin in the second quarter of 2022. In a media statement issued by the private air transportation group, Surf Air Mobility said that the transaction is subject to it securing further financing.