Swedish airport owner and operator Swedavia officially inaugurated new electric aircraft charging infrastructure at Visby Airport on the island of Gotland as the first electric airplane landed at the field on October 1.

The infrastructure consists of three charging stations for electric aircraft at two sites at Visby Airport. Two charging stations occupy the airport’s main apron for aircraft while the third sits at the Gotland Flying Club, in the southern part of the airport.

“Electric aircraft will play an important role in the aviation industry’s shift to fossil-free air travel," said Visby Airport director Gunnar Jonasson. "For that reason, it feels really positive for us that now, in addition to the airport and aircraft manufacturers, there is also an airline, Braathens Regional Aviation [BRA], that sees the potential and wants to start flying commercial electric aircraft between Gotland and Stockholm once this is possible. The next step is to intensify the work to establish both the infrastructural and commercial conditions needed together with other partners in the region, the business community, and the aviation industry.”

Swedavia has provided funding for the electric aircraft charging stations in collaboration with Region Gotland and GEAB. Climate Leap (Klimatklivet), the Swedish Environmental Agency’s program for local and regional investment support to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, supplied additional funding for the installation.

Several other electric aviation and research projects related to sustainable air travel have gotten underway at Swedavia’s airports. The company established a test center for electric aviation and autonomous aerial vehicles at Åre Östersund Airport last year as part of the Green Flyway program.

At Umeå Airport, Swedavia serves as a partner in a project run by the municipality of Umeå, named Fossil-Free Aviation in Northern Sweden: A Feasibility Study. The project involves a case study on electric aviation conducted by Umeå Airport and Åre Östersund Airport. At Umeå Airport, another aviation project also underway—FAIR (Finding Innovations to Accelerate the Implementation of Electric Regional Aviation)—focuses on sustainable air travel in the Kvarken region, which extends across northern Scandinavia.

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN