Bristow Norway AS, a subsidiary of Bristow Group Inc., flew BETA Technologies’ all-electric ALIA CX300 aircraft at Stavanger Airport on August 8, marking the first operations of Norway’s Test Arena for Zero & Low Emission Aviation. The flights, which are being conducted in cooperation with Avinor and the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway (CAA Norway), mark a step toward integrating and scaling Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) in Norway and the surrounding regions.
The Test Arena will consist of a series of evaluation flights to test likely customer routes at Avinor-owned airports throughout Norway. Early routes will see ALIA fly between Stavanger and Bergen airports, with potential for the programme to expand to additional routes across Norway later this year. The aircraft will be flown by BETA-trained Bristow pilots throughout the six-month regulatory sandbox evaluation project.
Information learned through the programme will provide operational insights that could help operators, manufacturers and regulators better understand how best to move forward towards commercial operations.
“Aviation is a safe mode of transport and a well-regulated sector,” said Lars Kobberstad, Director General of CAA Norway. “As the aviation authority, we will ensure that we facilitate testing new technologies and contribute to safe testing and future integrations. We will learn how rules and regulations must evolve to enable new technologies and concepts. Through this, we aim to build the necessary expertise early on for tomorrow’s solutions.”
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