Ampaire conducts first hybrid electric aircraft demonstration flights in Scotland

Ampaire conducted (12-Aug-2021) the first ever hybrid electric flights in Scotland, with the company's Electric EEL technology demonstrator crossing the Pentland Firth from Kirkwall Airport on the Orkney Isles to regional airport Wick John O'Groats Airport. This is the first set of demonstration flights in the UK for the modified six seat Cessna 337, which runs on battery power and a conventional combustion engine. The trials, the first to operate on a viable regional airline route, are part of the Sustainable Aviation Test Environment (SATE) project, which is being led by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited. SATE is funded by UK Research and Innovation through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, and is based at Kirkwall Airport. SATE forms part of the UKRI's Future Flight Challenge, created to test low-carbon aviation technologies, as well as investigate the airport infrastructure necessary to support sustainable aviation. [more - original PR]