Just over 100 years after the first flight between the South Island and North Island of New Zealand, aviation history has been written once again.

Gary Freedman became the first person to make the short flight in an electric plane across the Cook Strait, to highlight the possibilities for green flights ahead of the climate summit in Glasgow.

The flight took place from Blenheim to the capital Wellington and went better than expected, according to the pilot.

“We still had 40 percent left in the battery. We could almost have flown back again,” he said.

The aircraft, a Pipistrel Alpha Electro model, weighs less than 400 kilograms. The 78-kilometer flight took place at an altitude of 305 meters at 130 kilometers per hour, and took about 40 minutes.

Source:TT-AP