Bristow Secures Delivery Slots for Hybrid-electric EL9 Aircraft

Electra Aero has agreed to terms under which charter flight group Bristow secured the first delivery slot for its EL9 ultra short hybrid-electric aircraft. Under the deal announced on January 21, the helicopter group has made a pre-delivery payment deposit covering five EL9s, firming up an earlier letter of intent with options for another 45 of the nine-seaters on the same terms.

Bristow has indicated that it will operate the EL9s to provide “turnkey mobility solutions” for various corporate customers, as well as for high-end resorts, airlines, and government agencies. For several years, the Houston-based group has been diversifying its business activities, which have largely been based on support for the energy industry, including helicopter flights to and from offshore oil and gas platforms.

Carrying either passengers or up to 3,000 pounds of cargo, the aircraft will operate on routes of up to 330 nm and have a maximum ferry range of up to 1,100 nm with IFR reserves. Critically, the manufacturer says the EL9 will be able to operate from runways and landing strips as short as 150 feet.

The undisclosed amount paid by Bristow as a down payment is a double-digit percentage of the purchase price. The catalogue price for the EL9 is $10 million, but Electra acknowledged that it has offered launch customers “significant” discounts on that rate.

Part 23 Path to Certification

In November, Electra filed its application with the FAA for a type certificate under Part 23 rules, having already worked with the agency’s new aircraft division for the past three years. According to the company’s CEO, Marc Allen, it is a competitive differentiator that the fixed-wing design can come to market under such a well-established certification basis—hopefully with deliveries starting in 2029. By comparison, he feels that developers of new powered-lift and rotorcraft designs face a more complex approval path.

Electra is aiming to manufacture between 25 and 30 EL9s in the first year of production at a final assembly location it intends to confirm this year. All five of the Bristow deliveries are to be made in that first year of production, with other as-yet-undisclosed customers due to secure other sequenced slots.

For Allen, who held senior leadership positions at Boeing in a 17-year career with the aerospace group, the contractual arrangements now being established with Bristow and other EL9 operators are more substantive than many of the agreements announced by other advanced air mobility (AAM) players. They form part of Electra’s effort to create a solid ecosystem for service entry that has also seen it working closely with suppliers, government agencies, and customers to establish what it calls direct aviation’s mission to expand the scope of air transportation.

Early Direct Aviation Use Cases

One of Electra’s key anticipated milestones this year is its planned participation in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s AAM roadmap and its eVTOL Integration Pilot Programs. The Virginia-based company has backed five states in their applications to run EIIP projects that will focus on demonstrating the viability of early use cases for new aircraft.

“The states are taking different approaches, and we like the ones that are planning comprehensive ecosystems, are focused on the details, getting into the weeds to offer unique value propositions with the routes,” Allen told AIN. While some early business models for the EL9 may start with flights between established runways, he is convinced that others will soon demonstrate the viability of tapping the EL9’s declared ‘land on a football field” capability.

In his view, efforts to establish direct aviation have failed to date because they have been unable to meet six key criteria: access, quiet operations, payload, range, cost, and safety. “Our aircraft will have access like a helicopter, but at 70% of the operating costs and with more safety redundancy,” he stated. Electra believes it can prove the safety case for the EL9 to be able to fly with just four of its eight engines working.

In 2025, Electra flew its EL2 technology demonstrator in multiple trials involving partners such as Bristow and Surfair. The company also completed the preliminary design review that was critical to the type certification application.

This year, engineering focus moves to the critical design review, which should be complete by the early weeks of 2027. Allen said he is also looking to secure more pre-delivery payments and announcements of key partners to supply the bill of materials needed to build the first full-scale EL9 prototype.