Harbour Air, North America’s largest seaplane airline and magniX, the company powering the electric aviation revolution, made history last month with a successful flight of the world’s first all-electric commercial aircraft.
Piloted by Harbour Air CEO and founder Greg McDougall, the flight of the ePlane, a six-passenger DHC-2 de Havilland Beaver magnified by a 750-horsepower (560 kW) magni500 propulsion system, took place on the Fraser River at Harbour Air Seaplanes terminal at YVR South.
Last year, Harbour Air announced its partnership with magniX and the company’s intention to build the world’s first completely electric commercial seaplane fleet. The magni500, is a high-power-density electric propulsion system that provides a clean and efficient way to power airplanes.
“In December 1903, the Wright Brothers launched a new era of transportation—the aviation age—with the first flight of a powered aircraft. Today, 116 years later, with the first flight of an all-electric powered commercial aircraft, we launched the electric era of aviation,” said Roei Ganzarski, CEO of magniX. “The transportation industry and specifically the aviation segment that has been, for the most part, stagnant since the late 1930s, is ripe for a massive disruption. Now we are proving that low-cost, environmentally friendly, commercial electric air travel can be a reality in the very near future.”
Harbour Air and magniX will now begin the certification and approval process for the propulsion system and the retrofitting of aircraft. Once the certification is complete, the rest of Harbour Air’s fleet can be magnified with magniX’s all-electric propulsion technology.
