Norway: Commercial electric planes may be in the air in 10 Years

Home to some of the busiest flight routes in Europe, whisking passengers across a rugged and mountainous landscape, Norway’s aviation industry now readies to go electric. The country whose tourism sales pitch is “Powered by Nature” wants to be a pioneer in the market for electric planes. Wideroe, a local airline that operates small planes on short haul flights, sees no major technological barriers ahead and plans to launch its first commercial aircraft propelled by some form of electric power within the next 10 years. “Today, we fly the smallest aircraft on the shortest routes, based on an aging technology that was developed in the 1970’s,” Wideroe’s CEO Stein Nilsen said. “There’s been much development in the aviation sector, but not on the smallest aircraft.” Monday marks the inaugural flight of an electric two-seater plane, which will take off from Oslo Airport with the country’s transport minister as a passenger. The plane, made by Slovenian manufacturer Pipistrel, can fly for up to one hour. Avinor, a state-owned company that operates the country’s airports, say the short test flight will demonstrate the feasibility of pollution-free aviation. “The growth in both Norwegian and international aviation is one of the big drivers of climate change, which is completely out of control,” said Truls Gulowsen, head of Greenpeace in Norway. “Even if there’s a small chance that we’ll be able to get some small electric aircraft in the air covering short distances, there’s no indication that we’ll be able to replace today’s medium and long haul distances with electric propulsion.”<br/>