Norway, a country known for its beauty and greenery has recently tested a two-seater electric plane with an anticipation of starting passenger flights by 2025.
A two-seater electric plane built by Slovenian firm Pipistrel took its first few minutes flight at Oslo Airport. The flight was taken by the Transport Minister Ketil Solvik-Olsen and Dag Falk-Patersen, head of state-run Avinor.
The take-off weight of the plane is said to be around 570 kg for which both Solvik-Olsen and Falk-Petersen had strict diets before the flight.
“This is a first example that we are moving fast forward” toward greener aviation, Solvik-Olsen asserts in his statement. He further adds on saying about the safety of the flight. He reiterates that his main focus is on making sure whether the flight is safe for traveling; otherwise, people will be afraid of flying.
Additional to that statement, Transport Minister also points out about the future plans and goals of the government. He firmly believes in converting all domestic flights to Norway electric thereby making the country much greener.
The electric flight is said to take off passengers in the near future.
“Norway, a mountainous country of five million people where fjords and remote islands mean many short-hop routes of less than 200 kms, would be ideal for electric planes”, said Solvik-Olsen.
The country has also topped the world league for per capita sales of electric cars like Tesla, Volkswagen Golfs and Nissan Leafs, backed by incentives such as free parking, big tax breaks and road tolls.
According to the official statistics, Norway has sold around 56% of the cars made purely of electricor hybrid. The commitment in the 200-nation Paris climate agreement has made the governments think more and set far more goals for creating green space in the country.
“This is a start … but we have to make jet fuel a lot more expensive,” said the leader of the Green Party, Arild Hermstad.
