Electra Report Shows Direct Aviation Market Opportunity

New regional aircraft that are more operationally flexible and with lower costs could unlock time savings on more than 2,600 U.S. domestic journeys of between one and three hours, according to a new study by Electra, which is developing a hybrid-electric nine-seat model called the EL9 Ultra Short. The company’s Direct Aviation Market Outlook study, published on Wednesday, examines the case for air services to replace cars for trips of up to around 265 miles for which there are currently no scheduled airline options.

According to Virginia-based Electra, the EL9—which is intended to operate from landing strips as short as 150 feet—could open up air routes that are not currently viable. Part of the plan hinges on the aircraft being able to fly from so-called “distributed access points” that could include parking lots, rooftops, fields, or barges.

The foundation for Electra’s analysis is the daily road trips currently undertaken in the U.S. by 35 million passengers of between 50 and 500 miles. These involve 1.6 million passenger-miles annually, and include more than 6,000 routes with over 1,000 travelers each day.

Electra believes that 80% of the trips between 50 and 265 miles lack a practical air service option, forcing travelers to use cars. For routes used by at least 1,000 travelers daily, the research estimated that 1,851 would deliver time savings of an hour, rising to two hours on another 540 routes, and three hours on 227 routes.

Direct Aviation Routes

The transportation market that Electra defines as “direct aviation” is broken down into the following four sub-sectors: intercity connectors (moving people between urban centers), leisure launchpads (vacation destinations), airport feeders (taking passengers to and from airline hubs), and small community service (connecting rural residents with regional cities). The company expects to see early U.S. demand clusters in the Northeast Corridor, the Texas Triangle (Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin), Southern California, Florida, and the Midwest.

An example of the so-called “leisure launchpad” routes could connect Manassas in Virginia with the Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia. A “small community service” journey might include connections between Philadelphia and State College. Projected airport feeder services could cover Jacksonville to Orlando, Portland to Seattle, and Norfolk to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C.

According to Electra’s research, the U.S. Direct Aviation market could result in requirements for between 12,000 and 16,000 aircraft over the first 10 years. The company has reported signed letters of intent with more than 60 prospective operators covering more than 2,200 aircraft orders.

Electra, which is backed by Lockheed Martin Ventures, Honeywell, and Safran, is aiming to start flying an EL9 prototype in 2027 as it strives to complete type certification under Part 23 rules in 2029. It has already been flight testing a two-seat technology demonstrator called the EL2.

Electra says the EL9 will be able to carry nine passengers and a pilot on sectors of up to 1,100 nm with a 45 minutes of energy reserves for flight diversions. The aircraft is expected to have a maximum cruise speed of 175 knots and generate 75 dBA of noise on takeoff. 

The basis for Electra's research was analysis of existing travel patterns over a three-month period in Spring 2025 that included location-based data, connected  vehicle data, and credit card use. Using a pilot program developed by Georgia Tech University, the work considered road trips of between 50 and 500 miles, as well as airport feeder trips of between 30 and 500 miles.