Electra.aero, Inc. has expanded its facilities in Manassas, Virginia, and Bleienbach, Switzerland, to support the company's rapid growth and the development of its nine-passenger hybrid-electric EL9 Ultra Short aircraft.

At its headquarters at Manassas Regional airport, Electra has opened a new 15,000sq ft hangar and 6,000sq ft office space, housing development and engineering teams. This complements the company’s existing 36,000sq ft headquarters. Electra has more than doubled the size of its workforce in 2025 and plans to add dozens more engineers in the coming year.

In Europe, Electra has expanded its R&D centre in Bleienbach to nearly 2,000sq ft. The Swiss facility plays a key role in attracting top European talent and advancing the company's global engineering and innovation efforts.

“Electra is on a mission to transform aviation, and expanding our facilities ensures we will continue attracting the world-class engineering talent to design, develop and commercialise our groundbreaking EL9,” says CEO Marc Allen. “We're giving our teams the resources they need to get our ultra short aircraft into the hands of our customers and deliver on the promise of 'Direct Aviation', making regional air travel more convenient, affordable and sustainable.”

The EL9 is designed to take off and land in spaces as short as 150ft, using hybrid-electric propulsion and blown-lift aerodynamics. This capability opens access to thousands of small, underserved airports and non-traditional sites such as parking lots or fields, enabling more direct connections while reducing travel time, noise and emissions.

Electra has demonstrated the real-world potential of its utra short takeoff and landing through nearly two years of flight testing with its two-seat EL2 prototype. This year, demonstrations included flights from novel airstrips and austere environments at Virginia Tech, off-runway operating scenarios in partnership with the US Air Force Research Laboratory at Griffiss International airport, and commercial off-runway operations at Watertown International airport in New York. These flights illustrate the platform’s versatility for both commercial and defence applications.

Electra plans to begin flight testing the EL9 in 2027, to fly for FAA certification credit in 2028 and 2029, and to get the airplane certified and into service in late 2029 into 2030. To date, the company has secured more than 2,200 provisional orders from over 60 customers worldwide, representing a pipeline of more than $13 billion.