VoltAero has had to postpone plans for a week of demonstration flights with its Cassio hybrid-electric aircraft in the Netherlands. That's because Dutch aviation regulators refused to accept the experimental approval that had already been agreed upon by their counterparts in France, where the start-up is based. In a July 11 statement confirming the postponement of plans announced in May, the company called on European airworthiness authorities to more closely coordinate and standardize their approach to regulating new electric aircraft.
The Cassio 1 technology demonstrator aircraft had been expected to be part of Dutch efforts to introduce electric-powered commercial passenger flights within five years under its Power Up initiative. In the flight trials, program engineers had planned to assess operational costs, noise performance, ground infrastructure requirements, and technical support for the future use of Cassio family aircraft by commercial aviation operators.
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