GE Aerospace was busy at the recent Farnborough International Airshow, where it announced a high-altitude electric aviation milestone and other achievements.
On July 20, GE said it conducted the first hybrid-electric aircraft flight above 30,000 feet, demonstrating the viability of novel propulsion at an altitude occupied by commercial airliners. Across multiple tests, the company said it achieved a long flight under hybrid operation of more than two hours.
GE is developing hybrid systems to deliver improvements in range, durability, and efficiency. A two-hour flight is a far cry from the capabilities the company aims to offer. But the altitude milestone marks a key step toward proving out the technology and expanding its testing.
Pilots from GE and Beta Technologies, a developer of conventional and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) electric aircraft, conducted the test flights in the U.S., after which Beta pilots ferried the aircraft—a Saab 340B testbed—to the U.K. for this past week’s airshow.
“This hybrid electric system improved the high-altitude performance and climb capability while creating a flying laboratory to inform all future hybrid designs,” said Kyle Clark, founder and CEO of Beta, in a GE news release.
GE has partnered with Beta to develop a hybrid-electric turbogenerator for civil, defense, and advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft, making a $300 million investment in the developer in 2025. At Farnborough, it highlighted the partners’ collaboration on Beta’s Alia MV250, an autonomous, hybrid-electric VTOL model that uses the turbogenerator.
The company also partnered with NASA to make the high-altitude flights happen. GE’s Saab 340B used a megawatt-class, multi-kilovolt hybrid-electric propulsion system that it developed under a 2021 space agency contract. It incorporates the company’s CT7 turboprop engine family and other components, gearboxes and propellers from its Avio Aero and Dowty subsidiaries, and batteries supplied by BAE systems.
The hybrid system combines an electric powertrain with a traditional gas turbine to optimize power management across takeoff, landing, and cruise. Electricity powers the propeller and juices up the battery. For the recent testing, the system was installed within an inverted nacelle, provided by Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences, on the aircraft’s right side.
GE said the components meet “higher safety and reliability requirements than typical test hardware,” allowing engineers to test heat management, power density, and operations under lower atmospheric pressures. The company in June completed its first ground test of the hybrid propulsion system.
What Else is New?
Per GE, the megawatt-class hybrid propulsion system is designed to accommodate different fuel types—such as jet-A or sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)—and engine architectures. That includes the open fan and compact core designs it has studied since 2021 under the Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE) program.
RISE was initiated by CFM International, a joint venture between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines, to target a 20 percent improvement in fuel burn versus engines in service. GE at Farnborough said the program has completed about 500 test campaigns.
CFM has already demonstrated improvements in efficiency. Its LEAP and CFM56 engine series are used by more than 750 operators of popular large narrowbodies like the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 Max. LEAP engines, introduced in 2015, use 15 percent less fuel compared to the most advanced CFM56 models. Hybrid-electric propulsion systems could be the venture’s next evolution.
Evidencing the demand for next-generation hardware, CFM at Farnborough signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with IndiGo for more than 1,000 LEAP-1A engines, which would be a company record. GE, meanwhile, secured new orders for its GEnx series to power Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
The company also announced at Farnborough that the FAA and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certified the LEAP-1B high-pressure turbine durability kit, designed for hot and harsh environments.