US regional carrier Republic Airways will later this year become the third operator to take delivery of a pre-certification Beta Technologies Alia CX300 as it looks forward to route-proving work with the all-electric aircraft.
Republic already has a conditional order in place for an undisclosed number of CX300s and the new memorandum of understanding will allow the airline to carry out pilot and maintainer training ahead of flight testing.
This will allow Republic to “fly it on all the relevant routes they plan to launch the aircraft on”, says Kyle Clark, Beta chief executive.
Republic will evaluate potential use cases with the CX300 including regional passenger and cargo transport.
“We are moving on to formal deployment,” says Clark. “It puts us in front of the whole advanced air mobility market.”
Delivery to Republic is anticipated in the fourth quarter, by which time other examples of the CX300 will already be in the hands of customers Bristow Norway and Air New Zealand. A fourth, undisclosed, operator in the aero-medical segment is also planned.
In fact, Bristow will receive the CX300 being flown daily at Paris (N214BT), which will transit north through Germany and Denmark following the show’s conclusion.
And in an unusual move for a chief executive, Clark will be at the controls for at least some of the flights at Le Bourget.
He says performing in the air display is a “dream come true for any pilot” and reflects Beta’s culture, where all staff are provided with free flying lessons.
“We don’t want people building or designing airplanes unless they know what really matters,” he says.
Beta has begun building the CX300 for type inspection authorization flights with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Clark adds, working towards certification by end-2026 or early 2027.
But that milestone will be preceded later this year by certification under the FAA’s Part 33 rules of the in-house developed 575hp (430kW) electric motor that powers the CX300’s single fixed-pitch pusher propeller.
Beta is also developing an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the Alia A250, which it expects to arrive in late 2027.
The A250 has around 75% commonality with its sister aircraft, sharing key components including the fuselage, batteries, pusher motor and wing.
Meanwhile, Clark declines to comment on the potential for former Embraer Commercial Aviation and GE Aviation chief executive John Slattery to become more involved in the business.
Slattery is a private investor in Beta, and Clark says he has been a “friend and mentor” since the business’s inception.
But should Slattery take on a more formal role at the company, it would create an interesting AAM industry dynamic: his brother Domhnal is the chairman of UK-based eVTOL developer Vertical Aerospace.
