With more people and companies looking at more eco-friendly ways of transport and with the sales of electric vehicles looking more appealing as time passes, it was only a matter of time before electric aviation is next.
Over the past few years, we’ve heard from Electro Aero, a WA startup that has been pioneering its own electric jetski and wave flyer.
Now we have FlyOnE – another local pioneer in electric aviation. Founded in 2015, the WA aviation startup is partnering with ELECTRON aerospace, a Dutch electric aircraft manufacturer to change the way Western Australians fly.
The company has partnered with the Dutch electric aircraft manufacturer to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to purchase 28 of ELECTRON’s electric aircraft and has been promised priority delivery across 2026 and 2027, just in time for FlyOnE’s projected complete electric zero-emissions regional air taxi network in 2026, dubbed the Lilypad Elevate network.
Its Lilypad Elevate network is planned to span across 25 regional airports in Western Australia, with over 30 point-to-point connections throughout the state, starting with regional Western Australia.
Korum Ellis, CEO at FlyOnE believes that the chosen aircraft, the Electron 5™ was selected after “an extensive market research” that “best meets (their) mission profile – both in terms of range as well as available seats”.
To start, FlyOnE plans to install, together with third parties, solar-powered charging infrastructure for electric aircraft. The proposed sites include Perth, Rottnest Island, Murray Field Airport, Mundaring Airport, White Gum Air Park and Northam Airport. Once the aircraft arrive, the regional air mobility service will launch.
“We’re excited to announce FlyOnE as our launch customer and are proud that they’ve chosen our Electron 5™ to be the backbone of the Lilypad Elevate™ network”, says Marc-Henry de Jong, CCO/COO at ELECTRON aerospace.
As our companies share the vision of ‘making zero emission, on-demand, regional air mobility a reality’, we believe that this is just the start of a long and prosperous partnership.
Over the coming weeks and months, we will explore other potential areas of cooperation, including aircraft distribution, servicing and potentially manufacturing. So, watch this space.
Marc-Henry de Jong
Mr Ellis has mentioned that WA was the ideal place to launch due to demand from the mining sector, claiming Perth made up more than a third of all non-scheduled air traffic in 2019 despite making up far less of the national population.
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To read more about FlyOnE, click here.
