Campbell River's Sealand Flight will conduct a historic first in Canada: the first commercial electric flight.
“We have immense gratitude for the collaborative efforts of our industry’s pursuit towards sustainability. We are overjoyed to be the first to offer electric flight commercially, though it would not be possible without the efforts of many innovators,” says Mike Andrews of Sealand Flight. “While it will still be a challenging pathway to navigate moving forward, the doorway to implementing commercial sustainable aviation technologies has now firmly been opened.”
On June 14, Sealand's Pipistrel Velis Electro will take flight for an introductory flight lesson. It will be the first time a person can purchase a commercial flight on an electric aircraft in Canada. The student will be allowed to operate the aircraft under the guidance of the flight instructor.
Sealand Flight is hosting a contest to find a person for the training flight. The applicants must not have any previous flight experience and must submit a written piece explaining why they want to fly in an electric airplane. Their submission must be under 300 words. Sealand Flight will select and contact the winner by June 12. The cost of the flight will be $20. People can submit their submissions to info@sealandflight.com.
Following this innovative accomplishment on June 14, the flight school will begin teaching several new students from the introductory stage to the solo stage of flight training. From here, the students will transition to classical internal combustion engine aircraft for the remainder of their training. This represents the first phase of Transport Canada’s electric aircraft evaluation. Subsequently, Transport Canada and Sealand Flight will determine the feasibility of further student use, including flying to Sealand’s other locations around Vancouver Island.
