A New Zealand business said that its all-electric plane has completed the 48-mile journey across the country’s Cook Strait, making it the first of its kind.
The Pipistrel Alpha Electro plane was piloted by ElectricAir founder Gary Freedman during the approximately 40-minute journey from Omaka to Wellington Airport, according to the company.
According to the business, Freedman’s flight set a new world record for the longest all-electric plane flying over water.
The airplane was scheduled to arrive in Glasgow just in time for the United Nations’ COP26 Climate Change Conference.
As Freedman stated after his flight, “This is the start of a radical change in the way we fly. Bigger, longer-range electric aircraft are on the way and are ideal for short-haul routes.”
He added, “New Zealand is the perfect place for electric planes to be widely used, with one of the highest rates of short-haul flights per person of any country in the world and an electricity grid powered from predominantly renewable sources.”