French start-up Aura Aero intends to construct a new facility in Florida to manufacture its planned hybrid-electric ERA aircraft, an effort by the company to have a stronger presence in the important US market.
Aura Aero’s in-development ERA – an acronym for electric regional aircraft – is to be a propeller-driven, fixed-wing regional aircraft powered by a hybrid-electric system. The Toulouse-based firm set an ambitious target of having the ERA in service by 2028.
On 17 October, Aura Aero said it has chosen Daytona International airport on Florida’s central east coast as home of the planned new manufacturing and assembly facility.
“To meet the needs of the important American market, developing its presence in the United States is an essential step for Aura Aero, which is also continuing its industrial roll-out in Europe,” the company says.
Construction of the planned 46,452sq m (500,000sq ft) site is to start in 2026.
Aura Aero expects to begin assembling aircraft there by end-2028 and says the site could eventually produce 100 ERAs annually and employ 1,000 people.
Aura Aero is also planning to produce the ERA in a factory at Toulouse Francazal airport.
The company in 2021 unveiled the aircraft-development project, then in May 2023 said it had finalised the ERA’s design to have eight wing-mounted motors and a T-tail configuration.
At that time, Aura Aero also pushed back the type’s expected service entry by one year to 2028.
Aura Aero has pitched cargo and 19-passenger variants of the aircraft, which it says will cruise at 250kt (463km/h) and have 900nm (1,667km) of range. It aims to have the ERA certificated as a commuter-class aircraft, with a maximum take-off weight of 8.6t.
This year, the company started tendering for suppliers of key components for the aircraft, including for work packages related to fuselage design, airframe engineering, turbo generators and flight-control systems. Safran Helicopter Engines has already agreed to collaborate on developing the ERA’s hybrid-electric propulsion system.
Customers to express interest in acquiring the aircraft include Gabon-based Afrijet, Maltese business jet operator Elit’Avia, Brazil’s DUX, French start-up Flying Green, FMS of Switzerland, French carrier Twinjet, US charter operator JSX and US regional cargo carrier Alpine Air Express.
