7 October 2024
France’s now fully nationalised electricity company EDF Group (Electricité de France) is to invest in aircraft manufacturing startup Aura Aero.
EDF’s stake in Toulouse based Aura Aero is through its subsidiary Safidi, which finances regional development and decarbonisation projects.
Aura Aero’s Jérémy Caussade and Sylvain Vidal of EDF
Aura Aero has completed an electric version of its two-seat aerobatic trainer, the Integral E, and is working on a 19-seater hybrid-electric regional aircraft called ERA.
Other investors in Aura Aero include several institutions, from the European Union for its ‘EIC Accelerator’ programme, and from France 2030, a government project to help ‘key industries transform faster using innovation as their driver, and to position France not just as a player but as a leader in tomorrow’s world’.
Launched six years ago, Aura Aero already holds EASA approvals as an aircraft designer and manufacturer at its site at Toulouse-Francazal airport.
Its first aircraft, the conventionally powered Integral R and Integral S, are completing their certification flight test campaign with EASA. Several flight schools have expressed interest in the aircraft for UPRT training.
ERA – Aura Aero’s hybrid-electric regional airliner
The hybrid-electric ERA aircraft has 570 letters of intent from 12 airlines, with more than half outside Europe.
Sylvain Vidal of EDF , said, “EDF group is committed to supporting its customers in their decarbonisation projects through the electrification of uses.”
