Weston Airport
First electric aircraft leaves Weston Airport to Liverpool
US company Beta Technologies hit another aviation milestone in Ireland, by flying its electric aircraft, Alia CTOL across the Irish sea from Weston Airport to Liverpool.
It followed what is believed to be the first commercial electric plane flight in Ireland manned by a pilot, when the Alia CTOL debuted with a take off and landing at Shannon Airport.
On May 23, the aircraft flew direct from Shannon to Weston Airport in a time of 1hour 3 minutes.
Te company subsequently flew its battery-electric aircraft, designed for cargo and passenger applications, from Shannon Airport to Weston Airport.
The Irish stop is the start of a European sales tour for the aircraft which is built at the Beta Technologies facilities in Vermont.
Beta hit another milestone when the Alia flew across the Irish Sea from Weston Airport to Liverpool. The flight, which was 153 nautical miles (283,356 meters) was piloted by BETA’s Director of Flight Operations, Chris Caput, and Lead Test Pilot Nate Moyer.
The pilots flew and filed VFR but arrived with IFR fuel/energy reserves, demonstrating the aircraft’s regional range and capabilities.
The sales tour is expected to continue to the UK and France, visiting the Paris Airshow in June. The aircraft will make further stops around Europe before arriving in Norway in late summer to begin operational trials.
