First British customer for all-electric Noemi seaplane
March 18, 2025
The UK’s only commercial seaplane service, Scotland’s Loch Lomond Seaplanes, has signed a MoU with Norway’s Elfly Group for two nine-seat Noemi seaplanes with options for three more.
The all-electric amphibian will initially be offered in a nine-passenger configuration, aiming to offer what Elfly CEO and founder Eric Lithun describes as “mobility that is fast and safe along coastal areas”. With entry into service targeted before the end of the decade, the fully composite Noemi is projected to have a range of 125 miles and a 125mph cruising speed.
Since its inception in 2004, Loch Lomond Seaplanes has flown over 170,000 passengers. After winning what the operator described as “a long and hard fought public battle,” the operator was granted permission to operate from the newly formed Loch Lomond and Trossachs National park; establishing the seaplane as an environmentally friendly vehicle for operation in ‘Sites of Special Scientific Interest’.
Loch Lomond Seaplane’s push for the world’s first modern seaplane legislation (allowing the operation of large seaplanes on scheduled services) led to the UK CAA publishing the criteria for licensed water aerodromes in 2006. This has since proved instrumental in establishing similar regulatory permissions elsewhere in the world.
The environmental credentials of the Noemi will also serve not only to further Loch Lomond Seaplane’s ‘green’ credentials but again push the boundaries of regulatory advocacy, with the collaboration between the two parties set to introduce electric aviation to Scotland. The development of a supportive infrastructure for seaplane operations will also be considered, with the Noemi set to connect major population hubs and unlock regional mobility options between coastal communities.
Having inaugurated its operations in 2004 with an amphibious Cessna Turbo Stationair T20GH, the company currently operates over 1,000 flights annually, carrying over 10,000 passengers with up to 12 services a day. However, unlike the Cessna, the Noemi will feature a ‘flying boat’ hull offering less drag whilst in flight, with the clean-sheet aircraft also set to be offered as a flying boat as well as an amphibian. A test aircraft is expected to make its first flight in 2027.
