Electra’s hybrid-electric Ultra Short aircraft has taken off and landed at Downtown Skyport in New York’s Lower Manhattan.

The demonstration is the latest in Electra’s Life Beyond Runways series and showcases Direct Aviation, a model for regional mobility that brings air travel closer to where people live, work and travel. Electra’s Direct Aviation Market Outlook estimates potential time savings of approximately three hours and 45 minutes from New York City to Boston, three hours and 30 minutes to Washington DC and 45 minutes to Philadelphia.

Ultra Short aircraft combine a hybrid-electric propulsion system with blown-lift technology to take off and land in just 150ft. This capability opens up access points using existing infrastructure such as heliports, barges, fields and car parks, with no runway required.

Marc Allen, CEO of Electra, says: “Today we made aviation history in downtown Manhattan by landing a fixed-wing aircraft on a heliport. What’s even more interesting is that we didn’t need to build a new runway to do it.”

Robbie Ladov, general manager, US heliports and vertiports, Skyports Infrastructure, adds: “Electra’s ultra-short takeoff aircraft shows that Downtown Skyport can connect to destinations well beyond the airport run, carrying more passengers and more cargo over far greater distances.”

Electra has proven the capability with its EL2 technology demonstrator across a growing range of access points, including Downtown Charleston, Bader Field in Atlantic City, Watertown International Airport and Snowshoe Mountain Resort. As an inaugural participant in the FAA’s advanced air mobility integration pilot programme, it has also demonstrated helicopter-like instrument flight performance for non-congested operations at commercial airports such as Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional.

Partners include state aviation and airport authorities, FBO operators, real estate developers and more than 60 airline operators intent on operating regional Direct Aviation routes.

For defence operators, the same performance means the ability to move people, power and payload where traditional runway infrastructure is unavailable, damaged, threatened or impractical. Electra’s contracted customers include the US Air Force, US Army, US Navy and NASA, alongside more than 2,200 letters of intent from over 60 commercial customers.

Electra will continue its demonstration series across traditional aviation infrastructure and Ultra Short access points as it advances the EL9 towards certification, production and service.