ElectricAir aims for world record Cook Strait crossing

ElectricAir will attempt a world record breaking flight on November 1 with the first Cook Strait crossing by an electric plane to mark the start of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), November 1-12, which climate change minister James Shaw expects to attend.

The plane is a battery electric, two-seat, light-sport aircraft manufactured by Slovenian aircraft company Pipistrel and it was launched a year ago by Christchurch-based social enterprise start-up ElectricAir for people wanting to experience electric flight and learn to fly in a more environmentally sustainable way.

If successful, this will be the first time an electric plane has made the 78km flight from Omaka in Blenheim to Wellington Airport, as well as being the world’s longest flight over water by a pure electric plane.

ElectricAir founder Gary Freedman says the Cook Strait crossing is a symbolic demonstration that low-emissions aviation is here.

“This is the start of a radical change in the way we fly,” he says.

“Bigger, longer-range electric aircraft are on the way and are ideal for short haul routes.

“To meet New Zealand’s emission reduction targets, there is a need to electrify all our transport – road, sea and air, and ElectricAir wants to pave the way and show it can be done,” Freedman explains.

“New Zealand is the perfect place for electric planes to be widely used, with one of the highest rates of short-haul flights per person of any country in the world and an electricity grid powered from predominantly renewable sources.”

ElectricAir chose Meridian as its power provider, and Meridian’s Certified Renewable Energy product means ElectricAir can report its scope 2 emissions as zero.

Meridian chief customer officer Lisa Hannifin says ElectricAir, like Meridian, understands transport electrification is one of the biggest ways New Zealand can help to combat climate change.

Weather permitting, the plane is due to depart Omaka at 9am. The flight is expected to take around 40 minutes and will be welcomed at Wellington Airport at about 9.40am.

Wellington Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson says electric aircraft on short-haul regional routes are key to sustainable air travel in future.

“We are looking forward to welcoming our first electric plane to the capital and continuing to work with our airline partners to make sure we have the infrastructure in place to facilitate commercial electric aircraft from 2026 onwards.”

If weather causes the November 1 flight to be cancelled it is rescheduled for November 2.

A Sounds Air aircraft will follow the ElectricAir plane across Cook Strait to take photos and video.