Heart Aerospace Gets LOI for Electric Regional Airliner Fleet

Established Portuguese regional carrier and wet-lease contractor Sevenair signed a letter of intent with the Swedish OEM at the Portugal Air Summit last week to reserve three of the ES-30s, with an option to buy three more.

With its capacity for up to 30 passengers and projected range of 200 km, the aircraft is considered ideal to test within Portugal’s existing route structure. Also, the country is pushing towards adoption of sustainable and renewable energy sources across most sectors already, with much of the country’s electricity generation supported by renewables like wind, hydro, and solar.

Sevenair already operates a trunk service within Portugal, with seven routes that will be well within the ES-30’s proposed range. Heart has now accepted a total of 230 orders and with 100 options for the ES-30, which it expects to begin delivering in 2028 and operational by the end of the decade.

“With the ES-30, we have designed an airplane that can start cutting emissions from regional air travel before the end of this decade and it is progressive airlines such as Sevenair that make it a reality. We couldn’t be happier to have them as a partner, ” said Anders Forslund, CEO of Heart Aerospace, in a press release.

Sevenair chief commercial officer Alexandre Alves elaborated on the plans to expand in a sustainable way in a statement to FLYING. “For Sevenair this commitment with Heart shows our will of being an active part of those who are willing to take the necessary steps to change the industry,” Alves said. “We not only signed this LOI, but we have been invited to be members of the advisory board—and with our experience as regional operators help the technical development and implementation of the project.”

“Heart Aerospace presented itself to us as a start-up company that combined a strong financial backup with an experienced team and strong industry partners,” said Carlos Amaro, chief executive officer of Sevenair. “As members of the Airline Advisory Board we are proud to assist this amazing group in the development of an aircraft that will completely disrupt regional flights.”

“We don't hide that we would very much like to be the first airline to operate an electric aircraft as we think our operation and our country are perfect as case study,” added Alves in his statement.