In an exciting week for the aviation industry with Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates showing their support for sustainable aviation, Faradair® Aerospace is delighted to reveal a powerful consortium of partners to bring back large-scale aircraft production to the U.K.
The British start-up, headed by aviation entrepreneur Neil Cloughley and based at the historic airfield at IWM Duxford, Cambridgeshire, announced that it has attracted a strong consortium of partners to help it deliver 300 of its new Bio Electric Hybrid Aircraft (BEHA) by 2030, in a global demonstration of regional air mobility and special missions.
Faradair® is pleased to welcome Honeywell, magniX, Cambridge Consultants and Nova Systems, all leaders in the emerging sustainable aviation sector, to its existing partnership team.
Faradair® will work with Honeywell on the BEHA turbogenerator, comprised of Honeywell’s gas turbine and generator technologies, with the ability to run on sustainable aviation fuel, to support the hybrid-electric aircraft design in addition to other technologies, including avionics and flight control systems.
magniX is regarded as the leading provider of electric motors to the aviation industry and the BEHA will use two magni500 e-motors and associated magniDrive control system technology for flight propulsion.
Cambridge Consultants, widely recognized as a global leader in R&D engineering, brings its vital expertise in hybrid propulsion architecture to the development of the BEHA’s hybrid propulsion system, integrating the turbine and flight e-motors.
Nova Systems, a global leader in aircraft design, test, evaluation and certification, will assist Faradair® through the early prototype development stages, reassuring certification authorities that the aircraft is being developed and built to the standards of existing and future regulations for sustainable aviation technologies.
In line with UK Government ambitions for sustainable air transport, the British designed and built BEHA will emerge in hybrid electric/turbine configuration, but engineered for evolution into a fully electric ‘net zero’ commercial aircraft when power generation technology delivers the power density levels required for an 18-seat utility aircraft. The BEHA is specifically designed for low cost, quiet, environmentally friendly flight, qualities that enable it to deliver Air Mobility as a Service (AMaaS) to all.
The ambition is to deliver an initial portfolio of 300 Faradair®-owned BEHAs between 2026-2030, in the largest proof of concept air mobility program ever created. Of these, 150 aircraft will be built in firefighting configuration, 75 as quick change (QC, passenger to cargo) aircraft, deployed at general aviation airfields globally, and 50 as pure freighters. The final 25 aircraft will be demonstrated in non-civilian government roles, including logistics, border and fisheries patrol, and drug interdiction.
