Air Napier, a regional charter airline in New Zealand, has ordered 35 fully-electric aircraft from Dutch aircraft maker Maeve Aerospace.
Maeve is developing a 44-seater regional aircraft that will have a range of 460 km and a charging time of just 35 minutes. The first aircraft is scheduled to enter service in 2029, built at the old Fokker aircraft terminal in The Hague. The plane will have a cruising speed of 264 knots, (489kph) and a flight crew of two.
“With this reservation and strong partnership with one of New Zealand’s largest charter airlines, Air Napier, we’ve truly set the first step of bringing zero-emission air travel to New Zealand,” said Maeve’s co-founder and chief commercial officer Joost Dieben.
“Air Napier has positioned itself in the unique position as the first airline to offer passengers a sustainable alternative before the end of this decade. We are proud and congratulate Air Napier on being the first to take an advantage in sustainable aviation.”
Air Napier’s CEO Shah Aslam said his company sees a lot of opportunities in aviation with most regions having limited or no air connectivity.
“This is where Maeve potentially comes into play, as Maeve 01 seems to be the perfect combination of range and capacity. When movement stops, the world simply stops. We saw this during Covid, when countries had their borders closed, and movement was limited, causing a lot of anxiety and reduced productivity. So, movement is an essential part of the global economy. If you look at aviation or transport in general, most of it is based on fossil fuels, and hence a large contribution to carbon (emissions).”
The latest version of the Maeve aircraft was unveiled at this month’s Paris Airshow. With its all-electric propulsion, it operates at 30 per cent less cost than existing turboprops. This was partially achieved with the help of Siemens, which has significantly reduced the overall weight of the aircraft, allowing improved aircraft structure, propulsion capacity and battery capacity.
Founded in 1993, Air Napier provides, charter and freight services, and on some short-distance scheduled routes within the North Island.
The carrier is the second New Zealand airline to order all-electric planes, with South Island-based Sounds Air committing to at purchase at least three 19-seater aircraft from Heart Aerospace set for take-off by 2026.
