UK’s NEBO Air to start commercial electric ops

Small UK-based start-up NEBO Air (Damyns Hall) is poised to launch commercial flights with the world’s first type-certified fully electric aircraft, the Pipistrel Aircraft (Ajdovščina) Velis Electro, a development punted as an important milestone in the quest for environmentally sustainable aviation. This follows after the UK Civil Aviation Authority recently validated the June 10, 2020, type certification of the two-seater Velis Electro (Model Virus SW 128) by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The Velis Electro is powered by the first certified electrical engine, the E-811-268MVLC, certified by EASA for Pipistrel on May 18, 2020. EASA described it as “the first type-certification world-wide of a fully electric aircraft” and a “ground-breaking project which has yielded many learnings for the future certification of electric engines and aircraft”. “The EASA certificate for Pipistrel Velis Electro has been just validated in the UK, so the Pipistrel UK distributor and his team of highly experienced pilots and flying instructors are now the proud owners of UK’s first fully-electric aircraft with the Certification of Airworthiness,” announced Slovenia-based manufacturer Pipistrel, a leading small aircraft designer and manufacturer specialising in energy-efficient, high-performance aircraft. The Velis Electro joins Pipistrel’s product line-up of similar, but conventionally-powered aircraft. Following the UK certification, NEBO Air was now working on getting the aircraft insured in the UK, the company said on social media. It plans to use the aircraft for sightseeing flights, flight training, and for transporting one passenger at a time between London and the Midlands via East Anglia, according to information on its website. Flights would start at the Damys Hall aerodrome in East London to NEBO Air’s home base at the Shipmeadow airfield in Suffolk, continuing to the Wickenby airfield in Lincolnshire before returning on the same route back to London, a one-way journey of just under two-hours (without recharging stops). NEBO Air said it was receiving much interest from the aviation community with airfields across the UK and Europe having sent letters of intent wishing to join the project and enhance the operator’s network. “This will soon create a web of electric aircraft charging facilities throughout the UK and beyond allowing Zero Emissions aviation to become a reality,” it said. Pipistrel has to date sold about 60 Velis aircraft, the first of which went to Swiss AlpinAirPlanes, a Pipistrel dealer, maintenance provider, and flight training facility.