Electra Aero this week reported it has logged provisional orders for around 2,200 of its EL9 Ultra Short hybrid-electric utility aircraft. The Virginia-based company is promoting business models around its Direct Aviation concept, which it maintains will allow operators of the nine-passenger, blown-lift aircraft to bypass larger airports, establishing entirely new routes between underserved locations.

According to Electra CEO Marc Allen, his team is now “sprinting” to complete the EL9’s preliminary design review, which will be followed by the critical design review as the company progresses toward its target of achieving a first flight with a full-scale prototype in 2027. 

Since November 2024, Electra has been flying its two-seat EL2 technology demonstrator. It is continuing review work with the FAA’s emerging technologies group as it prepares its application for type certification under Part 23 rules.

The EL9’s expected ability to take off and land in just 150 feet is the key Direct Aviation enabler, and has prompted Electra to adopt the term Ultra Short to differentiate itself from STOL (short takeoff and landing) aircraft. According to the company, with a payload of 3,000 pounds and a range of up to 1,100 nm, the aircraft will be able to carry passengers or cargo.

Since its batteries will recharge during flights, Electra says the EL9 will not need ground charging infrastructure. In its view, this widens the options for landing sites to include grass fields, parking lots, and repurposed heliports in urban and suburban locations.

“Hybrid-electric propulsion enables us to achieve what jet fuel alone can’t do,” Allen commented. “We’ve created a fixed-wing airplane that delivers the access of a helicopter with 100 times less noise, 70% lower cost, improved safety, and dramatically reduced emissions.”

According to Allen, the “core technology stack” of combining hybrid-electric propulsion with a blown-lift architecture is “very solid,” and Electra is now focused on firming up parameters around build requirements, materials, and sub-systems so that it can deliver the aircraft at the cost needed for commercial viability. Behind the scenes, it is working with program partners and expects to announce the identify of these in due course.

Diverse New Customers Commit

The most recent set of prospective operators for the EL9 are a very geographically diverse group. They include the following companies: Akansel (Turkey), Dieng & Co Engineering (Senegal) in partnership with Flow Aero (U.S. and Turkey), Caverton Helicopters (Nigeria), Copenhagen Helicopter and Copenhagen Air Taxi (Denmark), 5 Star Helicopter Tours (U.S.), Global Vectra Helicorp (India), and Helicidade Heliporto (Brazil).

Increasingly, Electra has found itself responding to growing interest in military use cases for the EL9. “There is a new focus from the [U.S.] Department of Defense for the adoption of CCAs [collaborative combat aircraft] and these will need support operating across distances, which means they need an aircraft that’s like an Amazon delivery van,” Allen explained.

Earlier commitments for the EL9 have come from companies including helicopter group Bristow, Indian charter operators JetSetGo and Blade India, as well as Flapper in Brazil, German start-up Flyv, Finland-based Lygg, and U.S. regional airlines JSX and Surf Air. Based on the reported $9 billion combined value of pre-orders booked to date, the aircraft is priced just above $4 million.

According to Electra, what prospective EL9 operators have in common is the need for improvements in terms of access to new markets, leaner operating costs, and less noise and emissions. For those with fixed-wing fleets, access will likely be the biggest game-changer, while for helicopter operators the reduced operating costs will be a standout, alongside avoiding public resistance on grounds of noise disturbance.

Allen said that the two-seat EL2 demonstrator flights at 500 feet have generated noise levels as low as 55 dBA, which he said are comparable to a dishwasher or electric toothbrush. Electra’s projections indicate that the noise footprint for the nine-seater model could be more like 60 to 75 dBA.

Regional airlines among the provisional customer base are understood to be considering options to get away from crowded hubs where they burn fuel unproductively, waiting behind a line of Airbus A320s so that they can finally takeoff for a flight of just 35 to 45 minutes. Allen told AIN he expects the early commercial flights will be airport-to-airport, followed by airport-to-non-airport, and then all non-airport.

“There are so many great applications, such as the existing route between a [shopping] mall outside Washington, D.C. to New York City, that is rarely flown today because it’s too expensive [in a helicopter] and because it’s a bit unnerving flying that at 1,000 feet over suburban homes,” Allen said. “That’s going to look really different flying at 6,000 to 10,000 feet.”

Pointing to the example of SpaceX gradually making its journey toward the goal of getting humans to Mars, Allen said the Electra team are believers in “modular disruption, in which each step earns the right to make the next step.” The company is planning to conduct multiple public demonstration flights in its efforts to make the case to communities for its new approach to air transportation.