First commercial electric plane takes off

THE world’s first fully electric commercial aircraft has had its inaugural test flight, taking off from the Canadian city of Vancouver and offering hope that airlines may one day end their polluting emissions.

“This proves commercial aviation in all-electric form can work,” said Roei Ganzarski, chief executive of Seattle engineering firm magniX.

The company designed the aircraft’s motor and worked in partnership with Harbour Air, which ferries half a million passengers a year between Vancouver, Whistler ski resort and nearby islands and coastal communities.

Ganzarski said the technology would mean significant cost savings for airlines, and zero emissions. “This signifies the start of the electric aviation age,” he said.

Civil aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of carbon emissions as people increasingly take to the skies and new technologies have been slow to get off the ground.

The e-plane, a 62-yearold, six-passenger DHC-2 de Havilland Beaver seaplane retrofitted with an electric motor, was piloted by Greg McDougall, chief executive of Harbour Air.

“For me that flight was just like flying a Beaver, but it was a Beaver on electric steroids. I actually had to back off on the power,” he said.

McDougall took the plane on a short loop along the Fraser River near Vancouver International Airport in front of aboutr 100 onlookers soon after sunrise.

“Our goal is to actually electrify the entire fleet,” said McDougall.