Loganair Targets 2029 for Electric Flights
Loganair has signed a term sheet with BETA Technologies covering five all-electric ALIA CX300 aircraft, plus options for five more. The Scottish carrier expects the conventional take-off and landing planes to enter service in 2029, subject to the next stages of the programme. If deployment proceeds as planned, Loganair would become Europe’s first commercial airline to operate a fleet of fully electric aircraft.
What Loganair Is Planning
- Initial purchase: Five all-electric aircraft
- Possible additional order: Up to five more aircraft
- Aircraft: BETA Technologies ALIA CX300
- Expected entry into service: 2029
- Planned use: Regional passenger and cargo flights
- Routes: Specific services have not been announced
- Suitable journeys: Short routes, including many Loganair flights under 100 miles
- Charging time: 20 to 40 minutes with BETA fast chargers
- Airport requirements: The aircraft can use existing runways
- Estimated savings: Operating costs could fall by up to 80%, according to Loganair
- Emissions: No emissions produced during flight
The agreement follows a ten-day demonstration programme completed in March. BETA’s aircraft made 23 flights covering more than 1,000 nautical miles across Loganair’s network, calling at Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, Wick and Kirkwall. The trials examined aircraft performance, airport handling, charging and integration with existing airspace systems under real operating conditions, giving both companies practical data before the proposed fleet introduction.
No commercial routes have been assigned to the CX300s, but their range profile is suited to Loganair’s shorter regional sectors. Future deployment could support links serving Inverness, Wick, Kirkwall and other remote or island communities where road and rail journeys are limited or lengthy. The aircraft will also carry cargo, which may help retain essential deliveries alongside passenger flights on thinner routes across Scotland and the wider UK.
"Loganair has spent six decades connecting communities that rely on air travel, so their standard for new technology is appropriately high. We met that standard the only way it can be met, by flying more than a thousand nautical miles across their network, on their routes, and in their conditions. This agreement is what happens when demonstrated performance meets an operator serious about the future of regional aviation."
Nothing changes for current bookings yet, and 2029 remains an expected entry date rather than a published passenger timetable. The aircraft must complete the required certification and airports will need suitable charging equipment before tickets can be sold. If those pieces fall into place, quieter electric aircraft and lower operating costs could help Loganair maintain short regional services that are useful to residents but expensive to operate with conventional planes.