Scotland’s Loganair at the Farnborough International Airshow signed a term sheet that could see the regional airline—the U.K.’s largest—introduce commercial electric aircraft to Europe by 2029.
Loganair this past week agreed to purchase five Alia CX300 aircraft from Vermont-based Beta Technologies, with options for five more, that it aims to field before the end of the decade. The companies in a news release said the agreement “will ensure” that LoganAir is Europe’s first commercial carrier to operate an all-electric fleet.
Loganair CEO Luke Farajallah said the planned fleet deployment “reflects our confidence in the technology.”
The partners did not specify whether the CX300 aircraft, designed for a pilot to fly up to five passengers or more than 1,000 pounds of cargo, will handle passenger operations, cargo operations, or both. But they said the U.K. is a “natural first market” for electric aviation owing to its many remote and island communities that lack road or rail service, such as Scotland’s Orkney Islands.
Surf Air Mobility is the CX300’s U.S. launch operator and intends to be the nation’s first carrier to begin regional scheduled passenger and on-demand charter service with electric aircraft. It placed an order for 25 aircraft and 75 options earlier this year and in July began testing in Hawaii.
Loganair may pursue the cargo use case first. The aircraft order follows the U.K.’s first electric flight demonstration program, which Loganair, Beta, and the Royal Mail—the country’s national postal service—completed over 10 days in March. Beta’s CX300 made 23 flights across the carrier’s network, traveling between Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, Wick, and Kirkwall on routes intended to represent Royal Mail postal routes.
After that, Loganair and Beta signed a memorandum of understanding to further study potential routes and applications.
The Royal Mail in 2024 announced it would slash half of its domestic routes and maintain only essential corridors as it strives to achieve net-zero emission by 2040. Loganair has made the same ambitious commitment.
“Our demonstration programme earlier this year proved that electric aviation is no longer a future concept, it is a viable commercial opportunity,” Farajallah said in a statement. “The aircraft demonstrated the potential to reduce operating costs by up to 80 percent while maintaining the reliable regional connectivity our customers and communities depend on.”
The partners said most of Loganair’s regional routes in Scotland and the wider U.K. span less than 100 nm and fit “squarely within” the CX300’s demonstrated range of 336 nm.
The all-electric model uses existing runways and is intended to cruise at 153 knots. Crucially, Beta says it can juice up within 20 to 40 minutes using the company’s proprietary charging systems, which it is installing across the U.S. CX300 operators are expected to see lower operating costs compared to conventional models.
Beta and Loganair said the agreement further includes “plans for technical support and integration to ensure the aircraft can be introduced seamlessly into Loganair’s existing fleet.”
The Scottish carrier previously has signed agreements with hydrogen-electric powertrain developer ZeroAvia, hybrid-electric airliner manufacturer Heart Aerospace, and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, with which it aims to conduct the first hydrogen-electric flights of the Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander in 2027. But those collaborations have not resulted in firm orders.