This Swedish island gets ready for electric airplanes by end of decade

Gotland wants to be at the forefront of this emerging mobility technology

Electric aviation is seen as the ultimate solution to decarbonizing air travel. Currently, several startups on working to make this a reality with some prototypes already being developed and tested. The Swedish island of Gotland, however, doesn’t want to wait until this becomes a mainstream reality before joining in but is seeking to be among the first governments to officially allow and even mandate its use, even before it’s taken off the ground.

The regional government of the island, located in the Baltic Sea, represents the most isolated community in the Nordic country as its residents need to rely on ferry services and scheduled flights to reach the mainland.

It’s exactly this quality of being distant, yet not too far off the mainland that makes Gotland ideal for the implementation and testing of the new field of emerging electric aviation. Startups working on developing such airplanes are looking to first conquer the regional flight segments, also known as domestic flights in Europe.

At the end of June, Region Gotland signed two agreements with two Nordic companies that are at the forefront of electric aviation. These letters of intent will create roadmaps for the introduction of “green” airplanes in the scheduled flights to and from the island by the end of the decade.

Electric aviation development in the Nordics

The two companies in question are Elfly Group (Norway) and Heart Aerospace (Sweden). The first one has already developed a small 9-seater aircraft called Noemi (from NO-EMIssions) that began being tried out this year on the coast of Norway.

The Swedish startup is working hard on developing the first hybrid-electric aircraft suited for 30 passengers (ES-30), to be in regional traffic by 2030. In Gothenburg, where the company is based, the Säve Airport is expecting to meet the world´s first hybrid electric flight. The battery technology can now keep the aircraft in the air for 32 kilometres but Swedish researchers are planning an increase.

Region Gotland is passionate about securing more sustainable mobility solutions and aims to have at least one commercial operator flying electric aircraft from the island in the future. It is thus the first region in Sweden to have made legal regulatory provisions for this with the signing of the two documents.

The collaboration between Region Gotland and the startups will explore operational needs, technical requirements, ground infrastructure and maintenance, and business models. 

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