Aura Aero won 130 pre-orders for its ERA (Electric Regional Aircraft) electric plane at the beginning of October. A plane of 19 seats intended for regional transport. Jérémy Caussade the president and co-founder of Aura Aero explains to us what such an order represents in the New Eco.
France bleu: Nine companies have placed an order, how much does such a contract represent altogether?
Jeremy Caussade : Yes, already, what is important is that nine companies from all over the world represent both regional aviation customers, cargo transport aircraft and also VIP transport is important, these are the three targets of the ERA aircraft that we are developing. Afterwards, we are talking about 130 planes which are added to the 200 planes which had been announced previously and therefore we have 330 planes in the letter of intent, which represents approximately 4 billion business volume. So it’s starting to be very significant and it was important at this stage to have this feedback from the market which confirms that the companies are ready to accept regional low-carbon aircraft.
You were in mourning at Aura Aero, we remind you in Ariège last spring, two pilots died in a crash of a small hybrid prototype plane. Will this command finally allow you to go up the slope?
These are two completely different subjects and are not very related. But yes, it shows that we are still at work and that we are able to go beyond what happened and manage to integrate it so that the structure is even more so. strong.
These ERA planes are electric, intended for regional transport. What is it designed for?
It is indeed a regional transport aircraft, with electric propulsion which is in fact a hybrid plane. So the idea is to use both electric propulsion with electric motors, but also what is called a turbo generator which ultimately allows us to carry out the missions that we could not for now lead with all-electric aircraft. The mission of a regional transport aircraft, a 19-seater in particular, is to make short distances and often several flights during the day, short distances of a few hundred kilometers to generally reach two places which are difficult to reach normally by ground infrastructure. So it’s particularly interesting for slightly decentralized places, islands or places where there are mountains or very underdeveloped ground infrastructures. So the idea is really to have this plane which is a all-terrain aircraft and which must be able to meet the displacement needs of populations.
Is it really more ecological than an equivalent conventional aircraft?
The reduction estimates that we have compared to equivalent aircraft, it is a function of the mission, between 40 and 80% reduction in emissions.
ERA must make its first flight at the end of 2024, right?
We’re still on that schedule. Between the end of 2024 and 2025, we are working on it. We will update the program in due course. But indeed, there, we are in the process of passing important milestones which put us on the road finally to an entry into service of these planes there athorizon 20272028.