Centre of Applied Research Technology

Electric flight operations for interisland mobility

Article

Several studies have shown that flying electric between the so-called ABC-islands in the Caribbean (i.e., Aruba, Bonaire and CuraƧao) is feasible with the upcoming first generation of battery-electric aircraft. This paper presents a real-world case study that deals with the technical and operational characteristics of electric flight in that region. With that purpose, the Aruba Airport Authority (AAA) commissioned this investigation, which involved numerous local stakeholders, such as airlines, energy providers and navigation services. This study involves two commuter electric aircraft under development, aiming to investigate how they fit in the current operational scheme of three local airlines and three conventional aircraft types in terms of technology, capacity, schedule, performance, CO2 emissions and fuel costs. Conclusions indicate that a transition to batter-electric aircraft is feasible with regards to the aforementioned criteria and with the current technology and energy density of batteries.

Reference Donckers, S., Stamoulis, K. P., & Apostolidis, A. (2024). Electric flight operations for interisland mobility. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2716, Article 012009. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2716/1/012009
1 January 2024

Publication date

Jan 2024

Author(s)

S Donckers
A Apostolidis

Publications:

Research database