You can now book all-electric flights in the UK

If you can’t wait to experience flying in an electric aircraft, or to emulate the young German entrepreneurs that set the latest string of electric flying records last summer, you will now have an interesting chance to do so, in the UK.

Nebo Air (“Nebo” being Russian for “Sky”) is what you may call, a “micro-airline”, essentially operating leisure panoramic flights over the green fields of East Anglia.

Following the certification of the Pipistrel Velis Electro aircraft, the first all-electric aircraft to be certified, this operator, which happens to be also Pipistrel’s official distributor in the UK, has launched what may be the first pre-packaged all-electric flight product available to the general public (please let me know if you learn of any other!)

Passengers can now book an itinerary that starts at Damyns Hall Aerodrome, on the eastern edge of Greater London, then heads northeast towards Shipmeadow Airfield (Suffolk), a 45min flight, then northwest to Wickenby, a WW2 era airfield (Lancaster bombers were based there) in Lincolnshire, for another 55min flight and then back to London along the same route.

Interestingly, the experience includes more than the flight itself (which I guess for many sustainable aviation enthusiasts it would be already a strong enough pull) since there are a number of activities available on the ground at the mid-way Suffolk aerodrome, such as a farm/animal park with alpacas! and yoga and wellness sessions.

Mainstream electric commercial flights, even at regional scale, may still have to wait a bit, but electric aviation is starting to sip in through these small market niches.