LYTE Aviation, with its 40-seater eVTOL, SkyBus, has entered into a partnership with Twente Airport in the Netherlands.
The organisations will investigate the potential to connect the airport – 175km from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol – with key European destinations such as Paris, Birmingham, Munich or Hamburg.
“Our SkyBus is an ideal proposition for the connection between Twente Airport and several European urban regions within a 1,000km radius,” said LYTE Aviation founder and CEO Freshta Farzam.
“It will provide a convenient, affordable, sustainable, and much faster transportation option for employees traveling regularly between sites, allowing Twente-based corporations to reach their respective HQs, European counterparts and co-workers in under two hours.”
The SkyBus
LYTE Aviation is pioneering the industry’s first 40-seat eVTOL, a heavyweight passenger mass transit vertical take-off and landing aircraft branded the SkyBus LA-44. It is also designing a cargo variant, SkyTruck LA-44C, offering a payload capacity of 4.5 tons.
The aircraft is being designed to be five times more fuel efficient than a helicopter and ten times less noise polluting than a helicopter, with considerably fewer MRO costs. With its tandem tilt-wing technology, power will come from hybrid-hydrogen-electric turboprops and electric engines.
“We don’t need any runways; we just need a take-off and landing pad of approx. 40m x 40m maximum. With all the surrounding corporates in the area, Twente Airport is ideally positioned for our pilot project. We chose to design an alternative to the normal regional air route by laying two new efficient connecting points between Twente Airport and a new vertiport right at the doorstep of a corporate,” Freshta added.
LYTE Aviation expects to enter the market within five to six years.
LYTE Aviation is a perfect example of a company that is looking to disrupt the status quo; we’re keen to assist them in this endeavour
Twente Airport’s plans
Twente Airport seeks to accelerate access to new technologies such as AAM by embracing the opportunities of Regional Air Mobility and opening up achievable and realistic pathways. The airport offers space and facilities to new and established sustainable aviation companies that are looking to test aircraft, systems and procedures. It considers itself a living lab for sustainable aviation and new forms of mobility.
“The aviation industry is going through a number of revolutions that will fundamentally change how we will travel in the future. Our facilities are available as a testing ground for the innovations of the next generation of aircraft, systems and procedures. LYTE Aviation is a perfect example of a company that is looking to disrupt the status quo; we’re keen to assist them in this endeavour,” said Jan Schuring, CEO of Twente Airport.
Image: LYTE Aviation
