Electra and VertiPorts by Atlantic have announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to assess infrastructure opportunities that could bring Ultra Short aircraft operations closer to where people live and work.
The two companies will explore how different forms of infrastructure, like barges, piers, or elevated surfaces, could unlock Ultra Short operations at new and existing VertiPorts by Atlantic sites in New York City, say the companies in a press release. “This marks the first step in a broader collaboration to identify opportunities for Ultra Short access points across multiple regions. The initiative comes on the heels of Electra’s successful demonstration at Downtown Skyport in Lower Manhattan, marking what is believed to be the first time a fixed-wing aircraft without vertical takeoff capability has landed at the heliport. Electra is advancing Direct Aviation, a new model of point-to-point regional travel that complements the existing hub-and-spoke system with distributed access points closer to where journeys begin and end.”
Electra’s inaugural Direct Aviation Market Outlook, a nationwide analysis of nearly one billion trips, identified 35 million passenger trips each day across distances of 50 to 500 miles. Electra estimates potential time savings of approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes from New York City to Boston, 3 hours and 30 minutes from New York City to Washington, D.C., and 45 minutes from New York City to Philadelphia compared with driving.
Electra’s EL9 Ultra Short is a nine-passenger hybrid-electric aircraft designed to take off and land in as little as 150 feet. “The EL9 does this while meeting the Rule of Six, or the essential requirements needed to make Advanced Air Mobility practical at scale: quiet operations, expanded access, uncompromising safety, meaningful payload, practical range, and affordability,” said the company. “By delivering helicopter-like access with the safety benefits of fixed-wing flight, Electra is making regional air travel safer, quieter, and more accessible to people and communities.”
Electra recently selected Springfield, Ohio, as the site of its first EL9 production facility. The planned USD850 million development is expected to create nearly 2,000 jobs and ultimately support production of up to 800 aircraft annually, providing the industrial foundation to bring Direct Aviation to communities across the United States and beyond.
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(Image: Electra)