A Nordic initiative to drive the development of electric aircraft is now being launched. Funded by Nordic Innovation (an organization under the Nordic Council of Ministers), a platform is created where SAS together with other Nordic players gather.
– We will be a Nordic network that works with both infrastructure, industry issues and new business models, says Maria Fiskerud, project manager for The Nordic Network for Electric Aviation (NEA).
The NEA network will organize workshops and other events to build knowledge and cooperation in the Nordic countries. At present, the network has eleven members (Air Greenland, Avinor, Braathens Regional Airlines, El-fly AS, Finnair, Heart Aerospace, Iceland Air, NISA (Nordic Innovation Sustainable Aviation), RISE, SAS and Swedavia).
– The transition to sustainable air travel is existential to us and the aviation industry. Therefore, it is vital to exchange knowledge with other stakeholders to gain speed in the development of electric aircraft for commercial use. We have high ambitions for our sustainability work and we already collaborate with Airbus, among others, regarding the electrification of aviation, says Lars Andersen Resare, Head of Environment and CSR at SAS.
There are four focus areas with clear objectives for driving the growth of electric aircraft: to Standardize electric air infrastructure in the Nordic countries, to Develop business models for regional point-to-point connectivity between Nordic countries, to Develop aircraft technology for Nordic weather conditions, and to Create a platform for European and global collaborations.
Read more: SAS and Airbus to research hybrid and electric aircraft (may 2019)
