Imagine gliding from one city to another on pure ⚡ electricity – no jet fuel, no noisy engines! That's exactly what happened when an electric plane zipped between Stavanger and Bergen in Norway on a test flight this week.
The aircraft, a small Alia model by U.S. maker Beta, flew 160 km in 55 minutes, simulating a real cargo route in southeastern Norway. Avinor, the state-owned airport and air traffic controller, cheered the success. Karianne Helland Strand, one of Avinor's directors, said, "This is the first time an electric plane has taken the trade route between Stavanger and Bergen. Everything went very well."
But why is this huge? For starters, the plane's battery can power up to 400 km – enough for a round trip between the two cities. It's like driving your EV car on a long highway trip, but in the sky! Pilot Jeremy Degagne pointed out there's no room for "range anxiety" here: strict safety limits mean every flight is planned to keep energy levels in check. 🚗✈️
The test phase kicked off in August 2024 and runs until January 2026. Regulators are on board, prepping the rules and ground systems so electric flights could become commercial by 2028–2030. If that timeline holds, we might be looking at a future where zero-emission short-haul flights are the norm.
Norway already leads the world in electric cars and boats – think of the streets of Oslo filled with Teslas and e-bikes. Adding electric aviation to the mix could cut the sector's carbon share (currently near 3% of global CO2) and pave the way for greener travel across South and Southeast Asia, where domestic flights are super popular. 🌏💚
Next stop: the skies above Jakarta, Bangkok, and Mumbai? Only time will tell, but this Norwegian experiment shows that cleaner skies are within reach – and our next holiday flight could be powered by the same tech that charges our phones. 😉
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
