Green Flyway, a collaborative project for the development of electric aviation, has opened and inaugurated premises for an international test centre for electric planes and drones at Åre Östersund Airport in Sweden. The airport is one of ten operated by airport operator, Swedavia.
Alongside other regional hubs, such as Norway’s Roros Airport, Åre Östersund will facilitate the testing of electric planes and drones under the Green Flyway initiative. The EU and inter-regional project will see a number of electric aviation partners collaborating with other stakeholders, such as the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration, the Swedish Transport Administration and a number of airlines, in Sweden and Norway. Green Flyway offers a dedicated test environment for electric aircraft, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), air traffic management (ATM) and infrastructure. Test flights will be conducted in a unique environment with easy access to airspace.
“It is very gratifying and important for the advancement of electric aviation and as well as Sweden’s goal to have domestic flights be fossil-free by 2030 and all flights fossil-free by 2045 to take the first step in developing a national and international test centre for electric aviation through the Green Flyway electric aviation project,” said Peter Fahlén, airport director at Swedavia’s Åre Östersund Airport.
With preparatory work for electric aircraft underway across Swedavia’s portfolio of airports, “Åre Östersund is focusing on ensuring that the airport’s infrastructure is ready to handle commercial electric aircraft in the future,” continued Fahlén.
All ten of Swedavia’s airports are expected to have zero carbon emissions from their own operations by the end of 2020. Swedavia is also actively working to promote the industry’s transition to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and aims to have 5% of all fuel used to refuel aircraft at its airports fossil-free by 2025.
