Introducing the World to Hybrid-Electric travelAmpaire’s Groundbreaking Flights with Mokulele Airlines

Our Electric EEL aircraft has been back from Hawai’i for a few weeks and it’s out of the shipping container and reassembled. The FAA needs to give its blessing before we fly again, but that will happen soon.

It’s a good moment to review this first step toward regular airline travel in hybrid-electric aircraft. We flew nearly every day over 17 days, flying the 20-minute flight from Kahului to Hana on Maui once or even twice a day. In total we flew 22 flights and 23.6 hours. One day, we flew a nearly three-hour photo and video mission. Click here to see the magnificent video footage.

Before we flew in Maui, the “Hawai’i Bird,” as we named it, flew 24 shakedown flights in California over 33.5 hours. Throughout this entire period in both states, the aircraft flew with 100 percent dispatch reliability. Its last flight in California was a 2.5-hour, 341-mile flight from Camarillo Airport on the outskirts of LA to Hayward airport near San Francisco. To the best of our knowledge, this is the longest flight ever for a hybrid-electric aircraft.

We’re planning other demonstrations on airline routes, which we’ll announce soon. In the meantime, we’re taking everything we’ve learned and scaling our technology to larger regional aircraft, including the 19-seat Twin Otter with NASA support. Our hybrid version is the Eco-Otter SX.

For all those following our efforts and working with us to create a cleaner, quieter future of lower cost air travel, a big mahalo!

-Kevin Noertker, CEO & Co-Founder of Ampaire