June 22nd, 2019 by Nicolas Zart
The air service provider Personal Airline Exchange (PAX) wants to expand its on-demand charter service and has just placed an order for 50 Ampaire Electric EEL commuter airplanes, with the option to order another 50 electrified planes. (Note: these are hybrid electric airplanes, not fully electric planes.)
PAX is wasting no time jumping into the future of aviation, and Ampaire is clearly rising up as a leader in the electric aircraft market for customers like PAX.
Ampaire CEO Kevin Noertker said: “Ampaire’s Electric EEL pre-production prototype is flying right now and performing beautifully. We look forward to operators being able to share the thrill of flying electric.”
The Ampaire Electric EEL is among the highest capacity electrified aircraft to fly. The company is working on further developing its potential with a second aircraft. This second prototype would demonstrate daily flight operations on a commercial route in Hawaii soon. The certification of the Electric EEL should be around 2021.
PAX CEO Mike Azzarello commented on the deal like this: “The Personal Airline is about ‘anywhere-to-anywhere’ travel convenience at costs comparable to driving, Ampaire’s hybrid aircraft solutions empower PAX to achieve this goal sooner and scale faster.”
The potential of offering service to small airports on a per-seat/on-demand scheme would mean “a true walk-on, walk-off service for regional travel, without the hassles of flying through crowded hubs or driving on congested freeways,” according to PAX.
In the meantime, PAX announced that it is reserving the first 1,000 Ampaire TailWind electric jets.
For a startup whose mission is to be the world’s most trusted developer of practical, compelling electric aircraft, the Ampaire team pulls expertise from various electric vehicle (EV) and aerospace industries. By offering its technical expertise to flight companies, Ampaire hopes to jumpstart the urban air mobility (UAM) industry.
Ampaire has letters of intent from regional airlines around the globe. It has also already partnered with Mokulele Airlines in Hawaii to fly retrofitted Ampaire planes on its routes — “the world’s first operational demonstration of electrified aircraft by a commercial operator.”
Any thought on this pioneering airplane electrification leader and the latest news?
