Air New Zealand’s bold plans to fly electric planes between the North and South Islands next year have been delayed, with the airline citing certification hold-ups.
The national carrier announced in late 2023 that it had bought a battery-powered aircraft to fly NZ Post cargo between Wellington and Blenheim by next year.
The partnership with US aerospace company Beta Technologies was described as a trailblazing step towards “decarbonising aviation” in line with Air NZ’s climate goals.
But with the deadline approaching, the airline has now confirmed the plane won’t arrive in time to meet the 2026 goal and remains uncertified.
“The arrival of our commercial demonstrator aircraft has been delayed until 2027 as the certification process in the United States continues to be worked through”, chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer Kiri Hannifin said in a statement.
The aircraft, an Alia CX300, has been described as the Tesla of the air. It reportedly costs US$4m (NZ$6.5m). Air NZ would not confirm the price, citing commercial sensitivity.
It weighs three tonnes, is just over 12 metres long, and flies at a speed of up to 250km/h.
Mobile 60kW charging infrastructure was due to be built at Wellington Airport, the aircraft’s planned home base, and Marlborough Airport.
The aircraft is yet to receive Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification in the US. It would also have to be certified by New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) before flying here.
Aviation expert Irene King said the delay came as no surprise, and she believed certification could still be years away.
“It was a pretty ambitious programme because there’s a whole, very conservative, process that sits behind the certification of these aircraft.”
King, a former Air NZ manager and Aviation Industry Association chief executive, said certification for new aircraft could sometimes take 10 to 15 years.
She believed Air NZ was over-ambitious in its goal of having an electric plane in the air for commercial cargo flights in 2026.
“There’s a lot of buzz and razzmatazz around these things [...] I think there was a bit too much marketing hype.”
She remained sceptical of electric aircraft technology, citing challenges with the required electricity infrastructure, battery life, and the risks of lithium batteries.
“I just think that they presented an optimistic scenario, let’s put it like that, and then there are people like me who go, ‘Oh, I’ve never seen an aircraft or a power system certified that quickly.’”
Before the arrival of the commercial demonstrator, Beta was set to deliver a technical demonstrator to undertake test flights in Hamilton to familiarise pilots with the aircraft.
In December last year, Air NZ said this would arrive in April. It now says the plane has “just come off the production line” and is yet to begin its journey to New Zealand.
“We’re aiming to kick off the flight programme, based in Hamilton and Wellington, before the end of the year,” Hannifin said.
The goal of the technical demonstrator was to “understand how the aircraft performs in local conditions and begin pilot familiarisation. It’s also a critical part of our work with the Civil Aviation Authority on the future of novel propulsion aircraft in New Zealand.”
The electric plane programme is part of Air NZ’s target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Beta Technologies chief executive Kyle Clark told the Herald in a previous interview that the Alia aircraft had performed hundreds of test flights, clocking up the equivalent distance of a return flight between the United States and New Zealand.
Flying it was like driving an electric car, with quiet and almost instant acceleration and a rate of climb far quicker than traditional planes.
The cost of fuelling the plane in the US was a fraction of that for a traditional aircraft, he said. A full charge cost US$17 ($27), against about US$1000 to fill an equivalent plane with aviation fuel.
Beta Technologies has raised US$1 billion ($1.7b) from global investors. It also has a partnership with shipping company UPS to test postal delivery in the United Arab Emirates.
Asked about the delay, Beta said such a level of innovation “takes hard work and close collaboration”. It would not address questions about the specific causes of the delay or when certification was expected.
“We’re looking ahead to an exciting few months as Air New Zealand joins us in Vermont for pilot and maintenance training, followed by aircraft delivery and programme launch in New Zealand this fall,” a spokeswoman said.
Ethan Manera is a New Zealand Herald journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 as a broadcast journalist with Newstalk ZB and is interested in local issues, politics, and property in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.