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

by Matthijs Collard

PRESS RELEASE – Teuge – March 22, 2021

Electric flying becomes the standard at new flight school at Teuge Airport.

In May, E-Flight Academy will launch at Teuge Airport, a flight school that conducts 90 percent of its flight lessons with electric aircraft. Two aircraft of the Pipistrel Velis Electro type arrived at Teuge Airport last week. In addition to CO2 savings, the aircraft are also considerably 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 deploy electric flying on this scale.


Electric flying

The training aircraft have a battery capacity that allows 50 minutes of flight. For training purposes, this is sufficient for the majority of flights. Using a charging station and cable, as known from electric cars, the aircraft are ready for the next flight within an hour. "This is the future of flight lessons. The charging speed and battery capacity will improve significantly in the coming years. Moreover, time is needed between flights to brief students. The aircraft responds quickly, flies smoothly and has a modern cockpit" says 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 receive certification from EASA, the European aviation regulator. In Europe and the United States, much is being invested in the development of electric training aircraft. It is expected that in 2023 several new models will come to market with a flight duration of two hours or more. At that time, various flight training programs can be offered completely climate neutral. That is also one of the objectives of E-Flight Academy.


Ambition

The Dutch government has great ambitions when it comes to making aviation more sustainable. The agreements from the Sustainable Aviation Agreement indicate that domestic air traffic in the Netherlands will no longer emit CO2 in the year 2050. Matthijs Collard, entrepreneur and co-founder of E-Flight Academy explains: "The fact that in 2021 we already have access to emission-free and quieter aircraft for training pilots is of course a gain. We believe you should start flying electrically where possible. The knowledge and experience gained now will be needed by the sector later to be able to transport passengers with larger electric aircraft."


Teuge Airfield

Teuge Airfield is a logical choice for E-Flight Academy. The progressive airport is located in the middle of the Cleantech Region where many sustainable initiatives are being set up. Several organizations are already active in the field of sustainable aviation, such as the Dutch Electric Aviation Centre foundation. They conduct research into climate-neutral flying with universities, a university of applied sciences, a vocational college and a technasium. Matthijs de Haan, director of Teuge airfield: "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 bring innovations into practice."


May

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


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Note to the editor.


More information or 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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