New Zealand regional airline Sounds Air has confirmed its launch orders with Swedish startup Heart Aerospace for an initial three ES-19 electric 19-passenger aircraft.

The U.S. startup’s Electric EEL completed several flights on a representative regional airline route from Kirkwall Airport on the island of Orkney to Wick John O’Groats Airport some 40 mi. away on the Scottish mainland.

Lee Noble, director of NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate’s Integrated Aviation Systems Program, recently updated the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics on the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration effort.

A Norwegian startup has unveiled plans to develop a nine-passenger electric seaplane and provide a regional aviation service connecting towns along the coast and in the fjords with flights over water.

Behind the $600 million in letters of interest signed by electric-aircraft startup Airflow is a shift in its strategy for market entry away from a focus on express logistics toward replacing fleets of older aircraft now used for regional passenger and cargo flights.

Embraer has begun flight testing an electric propulsion demonstrator as it targets the introduction of its first all-electric aircraft, the Eve urban air taxi, in 2026. 

UK startup Electric Aircraft Group (EAG) has secured an investment from Irish regional airline CityJet to advance its plans to develop a hydrogen-electric 90-seat regional aircraft for entry into service in 2030.

Opener’s BlackFly might start its life as a toy for the affluent early adopter, as did the Ski-Doo and the Sea-Doo, but its designer believes the single-seat electric vertical-takeoff vehicle will ultimately find multiple practical uses.