Electric aircraft are already permanently based at 14 UK airfields, according to the British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA). On Monday, the group announced that another 36 airfields around the country are in the process of installing electric charging equipment to meet anticipated demand for aircraft with no direct carbon emissions from operations.
For now, Pipistrel’s Velis Electro two-seater is the only electric aircraft approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority for passenger flights. The aircraft, which is manufactured by Textron eAviation’s Slovenia-based subsidiary, is increasingly in demand as a flight training platform.
The most recent addition to the UK fleet is a Velis Electro leased by Synergy Flight Training from Pipistrel’s UK distributor NeboAir. The aircraft is based at the London-area Fairoaks Airport and has been partly funded with support from aviation sustainability group 4Air, a sister company to business aircraft charter group Flexjet.
“The Pipistrel Velis generates emissions only during its construction, repair, and maintenance, [as well as] its eventual end-of-life disposal and from the electricity used for charging,” commented 4Air’s president, Kennedy Ricci. “Through our partnership with Synergy Flight Training, student pilots of the future—and qualified pilots too—will experience new forms of decarbonized flying which will become more commonplace over the next decade.”
Other airfields where NeboAir has now placed Velis Electros include Norwich, Duxford, Great Oakley, Humberside, Old Buckenham, Popham, RAF Cranwell, Redhill, Rochester, Sibson, Shipmeadow, and Wickenby. At Norwich, charter operator SaxonAir has leased one of the Velis Electros since October 2023 and has used it for flight training alongside Pipistrel’s piston-powered Explorer model.
From its Klyne Business Aviation Centre, SaxonAir has run the Air League’s inaugural Electric Flying Scholarship program using power generated by rooftop solar panels. The company is preparing to receive the 2025 cohort of students at its flight training center.
Synergy Flight Training is now recruiting flight instructors to conduct training in the Velis Electro at Fairoaks. Company owner and CEO Glen Heavens, who will be instructing on the aircraft himself, is offering instructor rating sponsorships for commercially-rated pilots.
“General aviation has always been a valued innovation incubator for commercial aviation,” said BBGA’s managing director, Lindsey Oliver. “The achievements lauded here serve to enhance and benefit our whole sector.”