If you think about it, innovation in the aeroplane industry has been rather sparse. Sure, bigger and better aeroplanes are always being developed, but there has been nothing game-changing really, at least on the front-end. Zunum Aero is now looking to do exactly that with – wait for it – a hybrid-electric aircraft!
Here’s the deal
Zunum Aero is not just any start-up. It came out of nothing last April with backing by companies such as Boeing. However, it is not looking to compete with the big boys, but rather it is addressing another problem: What about all of those regional airports?
According to Zunum, nearly of all of the airline traffic in the US focusses on only a couple – literally 2 – percent of the countries airports.
2022 is the target for releasing the first aircraft: A hybrid-electric 12-seater aeroplane, capable of flight times lasting roughly 2 hours with a maximum speed of 340 mph.
The cool thing though is that due to operating costs being a lot lower compared to big aeroplanes, ticket fares could be reduced by up to 80 percent! Plus, flights will be quieter, more efficient and faster!
Details on how everything will work in detail are yet to be disclosed but there is still plenty of time left until 2022. A computer simulation can be viewed below.
Via: Venture Beat
Image: zunum.aero
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