Transport / Introducing hybrid-electric planes could help to reduce fare prices, Loganair chief says
Luke Farajallah also confirms Shetland is part of the thinking as Loganair signs partnership with hybrid-electric plane manufacturer
LOGANAIR chief executive Luke Farjallah says he hopes a hybrid-electric plane could be flying to and from Shetland by the end of this decade – while he believes moving away from aviation fuel will ultimately help to reduce the cost of fares.
It comes after the airline signed a partnership with a hybrid-electric airplane manufacturer as it explores ways to decarbonise regional air travel.
The new partnership is with Heart Aerospace, which is developing a hybrid-electric aircraft with the capacity to carry up to 30 passengers.
Loganair – which has a goal to go net zero by 2040 – said this ES-30 aircraft has the “potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions while offering cost-effective and accessible air travel”.
The collaboration will focus on establishing use cases for Heart Aerospace’s hybrid electric aircraft within Loganair’s Scottish and UK network.
Speaking to Shetland News on Wednesday morning, Farajallah said Shetland is part of the thinking when it comes to possible routes for hybrid-electric aircraft. At the moment Loganair flies from Sumburgh in Shetland’s South Mainland to airports such as Aberdeen, Kirkwall, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
He said both parties recognise that Loganair’s network “lends itself really well” to the aircraft Heart is developing.
“For all intents and purposes, the design and specification of the aircraft is very familiar to the type of aircraft we’ve been operating for many years,” Farajallah said.
The ES-30 will have a fully electric zero emissions range of 200km and an extended hybrid range of 400km with 30 passengers on board.
With 25 passengers on board the aircraft has the potential to achieve a range of 800km.
“When you map that across our network, yes Shetland comes into play,” Farajallah added.
“Yes Orkney comes into play, a number of the Highlands and Islands come into play.
“We very much want this to become a stepping stone on a journey towards fully electric or fully hydrogen propulsion aircraft.
“We think the hybrid electric is definitely a sensible way to be going and we can see that before the end of this decade, probably around 2028/29, this aircraft could be in reality operating on some of the routes we operate today.”
When asked if this means an electric hybrid plane could be flying from Shetland by the end of this decade, Farajallah said he “very much hopes so”.
However he said he was not in a position to name any particular routes at this stage.
Farajallah also said Loganair has “not discussed price with Heart Aerospace yet, and we haven’t placed an order yet” at this stage.
Loganair and Heart also plan to engage with the Scottish and UK Governments, and airports as well, to “promote and highlight the benefits of this innovative form of propulsion”.
Farajallah added that the airline thinks the partnership represents a “great step forward for Scotland” and UK aviation in general.
“In terms of financing this in itself, I wouldn’t expect this to be any more expensive than any other aircraft in the regional aircraft grouping,” he added.
The airline chief however said he would expect passenger fares to come down over time because Loganair would be less exposed to the high cost of aviation fuel.
“I would expect our customers and consumers to be challenging us on keeping our costs down, and that’s exactly what we hope to do,” Farajallah said.
He also said the aircraft would have a 30 minute charging time, and said there would be a hope to introduce charging points which utilise renewable energy.
When asked if there are any safety concerns over having batteries on board, particularly around fire risk, the airline chief said his prediction is that the “lines of safety and sustainability will converge quite quickly”.
“We can’t rush to have a fully decarbonised vehicle that doesn’t meet safety standards – that’s never going to be a concept or an agreement that anyone can make.”
Farajallah highlighted that Heart is already developing the aircraft fully in line with all safety standards.
He said if you remove batteries and the electric capability, the plane is a “conventional aircraft with conventional engines and conventional propulsion”.
“It’s just that it comes with an option to fly fully electric at zero emissions for certain distances,” Farajallah said.
Loganair is also expected to soon announce a new director in the company whose role will focus on safety and sustainability.
Meanwhile Loganair will also join Heart Aerospace’s industry advisory board, which includes a range of airlines, governments, leasing companies and airports from all over the world which are “committed to supporting the electrification of air travel”.
Heart Aerospace president and CCO Simon Newitt said: “Loganair has been a champion of regional aviation for decades, and we’re thrilled to partner with them to bring cleaner air travel to the UK.
“This collaboration is an important step in our mission to make air travel more sustainable and we look forward to bringing clean and convenient solutions to Loganair in support of its ambitious goal to achieve net zero emissions across its operations by 2040.”
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