EasyJet, the British low-cost airline, will begin using electric planes by 2027 in a bid to lower fuel consumption to curb costs and emissions, CNBC reports.
“Everyone’s saying this is going to happen and it’s just a question of when. I’ve come from a time when electric aircraft was impossible, but now we’ve turned that corner,” Gary Smith, EasyJet’s head of engineering, told the news network.
Last year, fuel expenses for the airline industry was estimated at $180 billion, and is estimated to rise to $206 billion in 2019, making up a quarter of operating costs for airlines. The industry also produces two percent of human induced carbon dioxide emissions, while electric planes produce zero emissions.
EasyJet will partner with Wright Electric, an American startup that plans to build electric aircraft for flights that span less than 300 miles.
“There’s a tremendous demand for lower emissions aviation among consumers and also among airlines. Lower fuel consumption means lower costs as well,” said Wright Electric CEO Jeff Engler.
“That’s one of the nice things about this space,” he added. “The environmentalists and technology people are very aligned because everybody wants to lower fuel consumption.”
The Israeli company Eviation, the creator of the first commercial all-electric passenger plane in the world, has already made a deal to provide the American regional airline Cape Air with a “double digit” order of electric planes, called the Alice.
“It makes economic sense.” said Eviation CEO Omer Bar-Yohay.
“This plane will cost $200 of flight hour to operate, a fraction of what a similarly sized and similar performance aircraft would cost to operate, and this is the reason we started the company.”
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