Canadian airline completes test flight with electric passenger plane

Canadian airline Harbor Air has successfully completed a test flight with what the company describes as the world’s first all-electric commercial aircraft. It is a seaplane, which Harbor Air makes extensive use of on its flight routes.

Harbor Air used a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver aircraft for the test flight, using a magni500 electric engine from Australia’s magniX. This produces a power of about 751 hp. A video showing take-off and landing, among other things, shows that the flight lasted about four minutes. This took place on the Fraser River, near Vancouver International Airport.

The modified aircraft, which in its original version made its maiden flight in August 1947 and can carry a total of six passengers, was piloted by Harbor Air CEO and founder Greg McDougall. He said flying felt like a regular flight with a Beaver, but a “Beaver on steroids,” writes The Guardian. McDougall indicated that he could not use the full power, probably because that would have resulted in too much speed.

Harbor Air has more than 40 seaplanes or seaplanes and, according to the CEO, the goal is to electrify the entire fleet. That will take some time, however, because the electric drive must first be certified by the relevant regulators.

Roei Ganzarski, the director of magniX, indicates that the aircraft used for the test flight can fly about 160km on the lithium-ion batteries. This concerns flights of about half an hour. That is insufficient for the vast majority of regular scheduled flights, but Harbor Air’s fleet almost only makes short flights and such a range would then be sufficient for the majority of shorter flights.