Harbour Air, the world’s second-largest water-based commercial airline with 45 floatplanes, is leading the way with an all-electric aircraft.
The company is based in British Columbia on the west coast and flies up to 28 times a day in each direction between Vancouver and Victoria, Vancouver Island. It carries about 440,000 customers each year in its regional network as far as Seattle.
Harbour Air punched high above its weight when it made global headlines in December 2019 reading “The world’s first electrical passenger aircraft flight.” Star of the day and icon for the future was, ironically, an old-timer aircraft the legendary Canadian de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, a six-seater, of which Harbour Air operates 14. While built through the 50s and 60s these workhorses are as good as new due to intensive maintenance and care.
The pioneering flight above Vancouver took just 15 minutes, the original front-mounted Pratt & Whitney P-985 Wasp Junior piston engine had been replaced by a Magni500 electrical motor, supplied by US manufacturer MagniX, generating 750 horse powers (559 kW). The battery was supplied by a US company as well.
The company is based in British Columbia on the west coast and flies up to 28 times a day in each direction between Vancouver and Victoria, Vancouver Island. It carries about 440,000 customers each year in its regional network as far as Seattle.
Harbour Air punched high above its weight when it made global headlines in December 2019 reading “The world’s first electrical passenger aircraft flight.” Star of the day and icon for the future was, ironically, an old-timer aircraft the legendary Canadian de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, a six-seater, of which Harbour Air operates 14. While built through the 50s and 60s these workhorses are as good as new due to intensive maintenance and care.
The pioneering flight above Vancouver took just 15 minutes, the original front-mounted Pratt & Whitney P-985 Wasp Junior piston engine had been replaced by a Magni500 electrical motor, supplied by US manufacturer MagniX, generating 750 horse powers (559 kW). The battery was supplied by a US company as well.
