The inauguration of the new charging points for electric aircraft takes place in conjunction with the first electric aircraft also landing at the airport.
– The future of aviation needs to be sustainable. Therefore, it is of course very pleasing that today we have reached the milestone of being able to welcome the first electric aircraft to land and charge at Visby Airport. We see that the development of electric aviation is progressing rapidly and for us at Swedavia it feels positive that we have now reached the point where we see that good conditions exist to, together with our partners, achieve the goal of being able to receive commercial passenger electric aviation at Visby Airport when it is on the market in a few years, says Gunnar Jonasson, airport manager Visby Airport at Swedavia.
The new infrastructure for electric aircraft that is being inaugurated consists of a total of three charging stations for electric aircraft, located in two separate locations at Visby Airport. Two charging stations are installed on the airport's main aircraft apron while the third is located at Gotland Flying Club, in the southern part of the airport. The new charging stations mean that the airport is now ready to charge the electric aircraft that are on the market today.
– Electric flights will have an important role in the transition to fossil-free flights. For this reason, it feels very positive to us that now, in addition to airports and aircraft manufacturers, there is also an airline player, BRA, who sees the potential in and wants to start flying commercial electric flights to and from Gotland and Stockholm when possible. The next step is to intensify the work of getting both infrastructural and commercial conditions in place together with other partners in the region, the business community and within the aviation industry, says Gunnar Jonasson.
Swedavia is behind the financing of the charging points for electric flights, in collaboration with Region Gotland and GEAB. Klimatklivet, an investment support program belonging to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, is a co-financier.
Other partners behind the initiative for electric aviation at Visby Airport are Tillväxt Gotland, Gotlands Besøksnäring and Nordic Network for Electric Aviation (NEA)..
At Swedavia's airports, several other electric flight and research projects are underway around sustainable flight and preparing the airports for tomorrow's technical solutions. At Åre Östersund Airport, where a test arena for electric flight and autonomous vehicles has been in place since 2020. At Umeå Airport, Swedavia is a partner in a project run by Umeå Municipality, ”Fossil-free aviation in northern Sweden – an implementation study”, where A case study on electric flights between Umeå Airport and Åre Östersund Airport is underway. Umeå Airport also hosts the electric flight project FAIR, Finding innovations to Accelerate the Implementation of electric Regional aviation, which focuses on sustainable flight in the Kvarken region.
