Electric-powered floatplanes could soon be flying in and out of Pitt Meadows.
Harbour Air completed the test flight of the world’s first electric commercial aircraft on Tuesday, Dec. 10 in Richmond.
The company, which flies out of Pitt Meadows airport, retrofitted a six-passenger DHC-2 Havilland Beaver with a 750 horsepower all-electric magni500 propulsion system.
“This aircraft was our prototype ePlane and will now begin the certification and approval process, which we expect to take one to two years,” said Samantha Kent, marketing manager for the Harbour Air Group.
“Once approved, we’ll begin the process of converting the entire fleet.”
The fleet is more than 40 aircraft, with up to 300 daily scheduled flights and half a million passengers a year.
The company flies to Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, Whistler, the Sunshine Coast and Seattle. It announced early in 2019 it would make the conversion to emission-free planes.
In February, YPK announced a new seaplane terminal building and Thirsty Goose Restaurant would be built on the shore of the Fraser River, with Harbour Air operating the terminal.
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