Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Swedish electric airplane maker Heart Aerospace and the government of Åland on Thursday said they will collaborate on the deployment of Heart’s hybrid-electric regional airliner, the ES-30, on the Baltic Sea group of islands.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Åland is an autonomous part of Finland with a Swedish-speaking population. It sits in the Baltic Sea between two expansive economic regions, the south of Finland and the Stockholm region on Sweden’s east coast.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Åland’s capital, Mariehamn, lies less than 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the Swedish capital, Stockholm, and Finland’s third-largest city, Turku, and less than 300 kilometers from Finland’s capital, Helsinki, and second-largest city, Tampere. 
“This is a significant step in the development of the ES-30 as it allows us to focus on the operating infrastructure required in support of zero-emissions flying out of Mariehamn,” said Heart Aerospace chief commercial officer Simon Newitt. “We look forward to working together with the government of Åland to make this a reality.” 
Powered by electric motors with battery-derived energy, the ES-30 design provides for a standard seating capacity of 30 passengers and specifies a fully electric zero-emissions range of 200 kilometers, an extended range of 400 kilometers with a full passenger load, and flexibility to fly up to 800 kilometers with 25 passengers.&nbsp;&nbsp;
With a population of 30,000 people, Åland has a thriving business community with more than 2,800 enterprises, three of which are publicly traded.&nbsp;
“Åland has had a positive population trend for the past 50 years and continues to grow each year,” said Fredrik Karlström, Minister for Trade and Industry for the government of Åland.&nbsp;“As an island community, our flight connections are vital to us, but so is our environment. That is why quiet, zero-emission electric flights are highly interesting to us.” 
Airlines now provide Åland with three flight connections, from Mariehamn to Stockholm and to Turku and Helsinki on the Finnish mainland.
Last September, Heart unveiled the design for the hybrid-electric 30-seat ES-30 as a replacement for the planned all-electric, 19-seat ES-19 model the Swedish startup unveiled&nbsp;in 2020. During a September 15 event at Heart’s Gothenburg headquarters, Air Canada and Swedish aerospace and defense group Saab each committed to investing $5 million in the venture.
Heart also plans to build facilities for advancing electric aviation technology at Gothenburg’s Säve Airport. The Northern Runway campus will accommodate the company’s offices, production, and flight test facilities, as well as provide space for partner companies in new sustainable buildings.
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Gregory Polek

An artist's rendering shows Heart Aerospace's ES-30 over the Baltic Sea territory of Åland. (Image: Heart Aerospace)

Heart Aerospace Partners with Finnish Islands on Deployment of ES-30 Hybrid-Electric Regional Airplane

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