Environment-friendly project: UK’s first electric airline to launch soon
The green energy tycoon Dale Vince intends to launch UK’s first electric airline in a move created to prove polluting industries can decarbonise.
Ecojet, UK’s first electric airline a “flag carrier for green Britain”, will release early next year with a 19-seater plane crossing between Edinburgh and Southampton.
The aeroplanes will run on kerosene-based fuel for the first year before being retrofitted with engines that transform green hydrogen into electricity.
Vince founded the UK’s first green energy firm, Ecotricity, in 1995 and has spent his career launching low-carbon and ethically-minded experiences across energy, transport, food and football. He chairs League Two’s Forest Green Rovers, called the “world’s greenest football club”.
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Vince told the Guardian: “We want to prove that one of the last frontiers [of decarbonisation] can be broken and that it’s not unsolvable.”
“Many people think that eco-conscious people want everyone to live a life of self-denial in a cave. Green living is not about giving things up – everything we like to have in this life can be done in a net zero life.”
The airline will release a few green-striped 19-seater planes capable of crossing 300 miles. Vince expects to extend the number of routes to cover all of Britain’s big cities.
Staff will wear environmentally familiar uniforms and serve plant-based dinners.
