‘World’s first’ fully-electric commercial flight takes off
Electric flight took a meaningful step toward reality when a retrofitted seaplane lifted off from Vancouver Harbor under battery power alone — no combustion engine, no direct emissions. The six-passenger de Havilland Beaver used magniX’s 750-horsepower electric motor, and operator Harbour Air aims to electrify its entire coastal fleet pending regulatory approval. The retrofit approach lets airlines transition existing aircraft rather than waiting for purpose-built planes. Range remains the honest constraint on current batteries, but for short coastal hops, that’s enough to prove the concept works and show where the next era of aviation begins.
