Azul Conecta, the regional division of the airline Azul, announced on Tuesday a collaboration agreement with the start-up Surf Air Mobility to convert its Cessna Caravan turboprops to fully electric aircraft.
Surf Air, based in California, intends to establish a network of short-haul air connections in the United States from smaller, less busy airports.
The plan is to offer semi-executive flights at an attractive price and faster journeys than cars and commercial planes, due to the lengthy boarding and disembarking procedures at large airports.
The company claims, for example, that a trip with its electric Caravan between San Diego and Los Angeles would take 1 hour and 30 minutes versus 2 to 3 hours by car or more than 3 hours on commercial jets.
Furthermore, the Caravan with an electric motor eliminates pollutant emissions and is 50% more economical.
Certification in 2026
Azul Conecta currently has 27 Caravan aircraft in its fleet that operate to more than 80 destinations in Brazil. However, the company did not provide a deadline for the conversion program to be implemented.
Surf Air is working with the goal of certifying the fully electric Caravan in 2026 and should receive the first planes in 2024 to then carry out the conversion work.
The technology is being developed by the start-up itself, which also has an agreement to supply the electric motor to Textron.
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Both companies claim that the partnership could accelerate the development of the technology, but do not explain how, however.
To date, the stage of the company’s electric engine is also unknown, which a few months ago closed the order for its first 20 Cessna Caravans out of a total commitment of 150 aircraft.
