UK-based budget airline easyJet is moving a step closer towards commercial electric air travel for short-haul routes following the announcement that its partner company, Wright Electric, is developing engines for its electric narrow-body aircraft.
easyJet
Photo: EasyJet
100% electric planes will only be able to fly relatively short distances but could play an important role in the aviation industry's push to cut its carbon emissions.
Wright Electric says it is working on creating electrical systems that are big enough for a 186-seat electric aircraft and a 1.5 MW electric motor.
EasyJet is hoping for electric planes to fly routes of around 500 km (310 miles), which would mean the aircraft could be used on flights from London to Amsterdam, the second-busiest air route in Europe.
The low-cost airline partnered with US start-up Wright Electric in 2017 to look at the possibilities of short-haul electric commercial flights. Wright has said it wants to conduct on-the-ground motor tests by next year, and flight tests by 2023.
“This is another crucial step for our partner Wright Electric to move towards the introduction of commercial electric aircraft and it is exciting to see their ambitious timeline for testing and entry into service,” easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren said.
The aviation industry has been under enormous pressure to come up with more sustainable ways of operating as environmental groups are encouraging people to seek greener alternatives to air travel, such as rail, boats and coach.
Over the last year, the so-called "flight shaming" movement, often associated Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, has increased public awareness of the climate implications of air travel, weakening the demand for air travel in Europe.
Lundgren, who is also Swedish, said last year that EasyJet would pay for carbon offsetting on all of its flights but stressed that such measures were only an interim option as new technologies were being developed.
“We know it is important to our customers that we operate as sustainably as possible,” he said.
“We can see more clearly than ever a future that is not exclusively reliant on jet fuel.”
Last March, a report by Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) named EasyJet as being the top performing airline when it came to efforts to cut carbon emissions. The report found that the airline's performance had largely been down to its upkeep of a modern, efficient fleet and its push to fill every seat.
In December 2019, aviation history was made in Canada when a collaboration between Harbour Air and magniX led to the world's first fully electric commercial aircraft making its maiden flight.
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