Heart Aerospace agrees collaboration deal with Gotland island
Heart Aerospace has agreed to collaborate with a Swedish island in a bid to speed up the introduction of sustainable air travel.
The hybrid-electric aircraft manufacturers have signed a collaboration…
Heart Aerospace has agreed to collaborate with a Swedish island in a bid to speed up the introduction of sustainable air travel.
The hybrid-electric aircraft manufacturers have signed a collaboration agreement with Region Gotland which represents the business community located on Gotland, the largest island in the Baltic Sea and which is located off the south east coast of Sweden.
The island has a population of 61,000, although these numbers swell considerably in the summer as the island is one of Sweden’s most popular holiday destinations.
As a result, Region Gotland is keen to see reliable and sustainable transportation provided and have set the goal of having at least one operator flying commercially with electric aircraft to and from the island.
A roadmap for the introduction of electric aviation on Gotland has been developed by Science Park Gotland in the spring of 2024, on the initiative of Region Gotland and the electric aviation industry with a plan due to be launched imminently.
The collaboration between Region Gotland and Heart Aerospace will explore operational needs, technical requirements, ground infrastructure and maintenance and business models.
It is the second such deal Heart Aerospace has arranged as last year it announced a similar collaboration with the government of Åland, an autonomous region in Finland.
Social Democrats, chair of the regional executive board Meit Fohlin said: “On Gotland, we are entirely dependent on air and ferry traffic to and from the island, and we must be able to travel sustainably.
“This decision to deepen the collaboration with Heart Aerospace is an important milestone in our journey towards sustainable communications.”
Heart Aerospace co-founder and CEO Anders Forslund said: “Heart Aerospace has just entered an exciting new phase of hardware testing, and our aim is to have a hybrid-electric passenger plane on the market before the end of this decade.
“As we get closer to this goal, collaborations with airports, operators and regional authorities are crucial to ensure the eco-system needed to support electric aviation.
“We look forward to working together with Region Gotland to make this a reality.”
Heart Aerospace is developing the ES-30, a regional hybrid-electric airplane with a standard seating capacity of 30 passengers, which promises to deliver sustainability and efficiency on short-haul routes.
With a fully electric zero-emission range of 200 kilometres and an extended hybrid range of 400 kilometres, the ES-30 offers lower emissions and operating costs.
