Flying between Marseille and Bastia, Bordeaux and Lyon, or Nice and Clermont-Ferrand aboard a hybrid or fully electric aircraft could become reality as soon as 2030, according to the nonprofit Transport & Environment (T&E).
The European nonprofit said this is not science fiction, pointing to technological progress made in recent years. T&E said major advances in engine power density have produced lightweight, high-performing electric motors, combined with design innovations such as distributed propulsion and wing-integrated batteries, which it said have fundamentally changed the situation.
Challenges remain. The physical constraint of battery weight and the risk of thermal runaway leading to fire are still real concerns, and certifying these low-carbon or zero-emission aircraft is far from a formality. T&E named three European aeronautics start-ups working on the challenge: France's Aura Aero, Germany's Væridion and the Netherlands' Elysian Aircraft.
Elysian Aircraft's E9X
Elysian Aircraft is developing the E9X in partnership with the Dutch airline KLM. The fully electric aircraft will have six motors and batteries housed in its wings, and will be able to carry 90 passengers at 650 km/h over 750 kilometers. After test flights with a scaled-down demonstrator to validate the aircraft's aerodynamics, flight behavior and distributed propulsion, the first flight of a full-size prototype is not expected before 2030, with entry into service not planned until 2033.
Væridion's Microliner
Væridion is working on a much smaller aircraft. The single-engine Microliner will also be fully electric, but will carry only nine passengers, with a range of 400 kilometers and a cruising speed of 430 km/h. The first test flight of a full-size prototype is scheduled for next year, and the company says the Microliner could arrive in 2030 if all goes as planned. Væridion has already logged around a hundred purchase commitments.
Aura Aero's ERA
Based at Toulouse-Francazal airport, French aircraft maker Aura Aero is, T&E said, the most ambitious of the three. The company plans to bring its ERA aircraft, a 19-seat thermal-electric hybrid, into service before 2030. The aircraft is due to make its first test flight in early 2027.
ERA will be equipped with eight Engineus electric motors made by Safran, powered by both batteries and two turbo-generators running on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). T&E said this energy combination should allow the aircraft to emit up to 80% less CO2 than a thermal aircraft of the same category. With a range of 1,500 kilometers and a cruising speed of 550 km/h, ERA has so far logged more than 700 purchase intentions and one firm order.
A quarter of European flights
T&E, which promotes decarbonized aviation, said these new aircraft will change the way people travel in the coming years. Citing an analysis by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the organization said a quarter of intra-European flights cover less than 500 kilometers, a distance within reach of this new generation of aircraft in development. That represents at least around two million flights a year.
T&E said airlines could use these aircraft to open new routes between medium-sized cities that are currently poorly served by rail or difficult to reach because of terrain or sea, without the reputational concerns tied to emissions.
T&E said it cannot yet confirm that the shift will happen by 2030, but said low-emission aircraft will arrive on the market before long.
