Air apparent

With its dependence on short-haul flights, Australia is a test ground for battery-powered aviation. Can it take off?

-  Royce Kurmelovs

David Doral predicts a boom in small operators offering short trips

The first fixed-wing electric T passenger aircraft took off from Grant County international airport in the US state of Washington in September. The nine-seater charter plane - known as Alice - soared to 1,000 metres for eight minutes.

Northern Territory Air Services, a scheduled airline and charter operator, put in an order less than two months later to bring 20 of the aircraft to Australia with plans to fly passengers from Darwin to Uluru and Mount Isa. It's a small sign that the winds may be changing for zero-emissions aviation in Australia, one of the most flightdependent countries in the world.

Even though there was no industry body making the case for change until recently, a small crop of startups and aviation companies have been working, away from the spotlight, on electric flight. Among them is the charter company Sydney Seaplanes, which is planning to become the first all-electric airline in Australia, and Bader Aero, a company developing a two-seater electric aircraft for use in pilot training. Bader's co-founder Barrie Rodgers set a record for the longest journey by electric aircraft - a seven-day, 18-stop flight across South Australia in June 2021.

The US company Wisk announced a memorandum of understanding in July with the Queensland Council of Mayors to help clear the way for its four-seater driverless eVTOLS (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) to operate as "safe, sustainable and scalable" air taxis in Brisbane by 2032, when the city hosts the Olympics.

Wisk's sixth-generation aircraft looks like a scaled-up drone and will have a range of 144km, a cruising speed up to 120 knots and can be charged in 15 minutes. Its wingspan stretches 15 metres and it has six propellers. Once aloft, it flies like a small plane.