PRESS RELEASE: Electric flying will become the standard at the new flight school at Teuge Airport.

PERSBERICHT: Elektrisch vliegen wordt de standaard bij nieuwe vliegschool op Teuge Airport.

PRESS RELEASE - Teuge - March 22, 2021

Electric flying will become the standard at the new flight school at Teuge Airport.

In May, the E-Flight Academy will start at Teuge Airport, a flight school that conducts 90 percent of its flight lessons with electric airplanes. Two aircraft of the Pipistrel Velis Electro type arrived at Teuge Airport last week. In addition to the CO2 savings, the aircraft are also significantly quieter than conventional training aircraft. The company will fly hundreds of hours per year on batteries. E-Flight Academy is the first organization in the Netherlands to implement electric flying on this scale. 


Electric flying

The training aircraft have a battery capacity that allows for 50 minutes of flight. For training purposes, this is sufficient for most flights. Through a charging station and cable, similar to those used for electric cars, the aircraft will be ready for the next flight within an hour. "This is the future of flight training. The charging speed and battery capacity will significantly improve in the coming years. Additionally, time is needed between flights to brief the students. The aircraft responds quickly, flies smoothly, and has a modern cockpit," said Evert-Jan Feld, co-founder and Head of Training at E-Flight Academy.


Certification

The aircraft are of the Pipistrel Velis Electro type and are manufactured in Italy. Pipistrel is the first manufacturer to have received certification from EASA, the European aviation regulator. In Europe and the United States, a lot of investment is being made in the development of electric training aircraft. It is expected that in 2023 several new models will enter the market with a flight duration of two hours or more. At that time, various flight training programs can be offered completely climate-neutral. This is also one of the goals of E-Flight Academy.


Ambition

The Dutch government has big ambitions when it comes to making aviation more sustainable. The agreements from the Sustainable Aviation Accord indicate that domestic air traffic in the Netherlands will no longer emit CO2 by the year 2050. Matthijs Collard, entrepreneur and co-founder of E-Flight Academy, explains: "The fact that we already have access to emission-free and quieter aircraft for pilot training in 2021 is a clear advantage. We believe that electric flying should be pursued wherever possible. The knowledge and experience being gained now will be crucial for the sector to be able to transport passengers with larger electric aircraft in the future."


Teuge Airport

Airport Teuge is a logical choice for E-Flight Academy. The progressive airport is located in the Cleantech Region where many sustainable initiatives are being developed. Several organizations are already active in the field of sustainable flying, such as the Dutch Electric Aviation Centre foundation. They conduct research on climate-neutral flying with universities, a university of applied sciences, a vocational school, and a technasium. Matthijs de Haan, director of Teuge airport: "We are very pleased with the steps E-Flight Academy is taking. In addition to policy and research, it is very important that there are also entrepreneurial parties that implement innovations in practice." 


May

The airplanes will make their first flights in April to familiarize the instructors with the new model. In May, E-Flight Academy will start training recreational pilots from the Skydeck hangar. The first students have already started with the theoretical part. 


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Note for the editorial team. 


For more information or to make an appointment at the hangar? Call or email

Matthijs Collard. 0628126697 matthijs@eflight.nl

Evert-Jan Feld. 0642136648 e-j@eflight.nl
Website: www.eflight.nl 


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Place source: E-Flight Academy

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