The Largest Seaplane Airline Is Going Electric

There are quite a few companies that are working on electric and hybrid passenger aircraft. They include startups and behemoths like Boeing, NASA, and Uber. However, there’s another company which is taking a big step in this direction, and it happens to be Harbour Airlines. It’s the largest seaplane airline in North America.

Harbour Airlines has announced that it’s converting all of its seaplanes into electric aircraft. It will do that by replacing the current conventional engines with electric motors from magniX that are capable of producing 750 horsepower.

The airline will start this conversion procedure first with its six passenger DHC-2 de Havilland Beaver. The converted aircraft will be tested later this year and if nothing goes wrong, the company will go ahead with converting the entire fleet.

It will be possible for the airline to operate its business on electric motors given that it largely operates short hops between cities. They’re usually under 1,000 miles between hubs like Seattle and Vancouver, Canada. Harbour Air operates more than 30,000 commercial flights every year, carrying more than 500,000 passengers. The aviation industry contributes 12 percent of all U.S. and 4.9 percent of all global carbon emissions. Such changes will go a long way in bringing down those figures.

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