Beta Technologies takes electric planes to new U.S. territories

VERMONT-based aircraft manufacturer Beta Technologies has received U.S. federal certification to fly potential customers aboard its ALIA eVTOL, an all-electric aircraft capable of taking off and landing vertically.

The approval marks a new step toward commercial operations.

“This is a critical milestone for Beta,” according to a written statement from a Beta spokesperson provided to VTDigger. “We’re focused on consistent, safe flying, and we’re excited to bring an aircraft designed, manufactured and tested in Vermont to the people and places that will put it to work.”

The certificate will allow Beta’s model — the all-electric ALIA eVTOL aircraft — to be flown with participants and operators in order to gather data for marketing surveys, according to a news release from the Federal Aviation Administration. With this certification, the planes will be allowed to take off and land in commercial airports, according to Frank Cioffi, president of Greater Burlington Industrial Corp.

If the process is successful, vertical take-off electric airplanes are one step closer to filling the horizon.

Beta Technologies, an aerospace and defence company based in Burlington, Vt., designs and sells electric aircraft as well as electric charging systems, components and propulsion systems for aircraft. The company employs almost 1,400 workers.

The company created an aircraft family called ALIA aircraft, which consists of two different types of electric aircraft: the ALIA CTOL and the ALIA eVTOL.

The Special Airworthiness Market Survey Certificate — the first of its kind — is a milestone for Beta Technologies, Cioffi said. “It basically proves that the FAA believes in the safety and the construction and the viability of this aircraft to be landing in commercial airports.”

— The Associated Press