Heart Aerospace completed the first flight of its X1 demonstrator on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, at Plattsburgh International Airport (PBG) in upstate New York, according to a report by Heart Aerospace. The Swedish-founded, Los Angeles-based company said the aircraft is now the largest battery-electric aircraft ever flown, with a wingspan of 106 feet and a takeoff weight above 25,000 pounds. A single pilot flew the mission to validate the technology behind Heart’s planned ES-30 regional airliner.
The flight lasted 27 minutes and reached an altitude of 1,100 feet above ground level. It took place under an FAA Special Airworthiness Certificate in the Experimental Category, a permit that allows test aircraft to fly before full certification. The milestone matters because it shows electric propulsion working at a size close to a commercial airliner, not just a small trainer or drone.
What Happened During the 27-Minute Flight
X1 took off from Heart’s flight-test base at PBG, a regional airport that serves a community of roughly 20,000 people in the Champlain Valley. The test profile covered taxi, takeoff, climb, maneuvering, and landing, a standard sequence for validating a new aircraft’s handling.
Heart’s all-electric propulsion system delivered more than one megawatt of power during the flight, a figure the company uses to show the system can produce airliner-scale thrust. The aircraft measures 76 feet from nose to tail. Heart’s founder and chief executive, Anders Forslund, said the flight showed “electric flight at the scale of a commercial airliner.”
Heart selected PBG for its X1 flight-test campaign years before the first flight took place, drawn by the airport’s open airspace and its distance from dense commercial traffic. The company kept its test operation in Plattsburgh even after moving its corporate headquarters from Gothenburg, Sweden, to Los Angeles, splitting the program between East Coast flight testing and West Coast manufacturing.
Flying under a Special Airworthiness Certificate means the FAA has cleared X1 for experimental test flights only, not for carrying passengers or cargo. That certificate is the normal first regulatory step for any new aircraft design, well short of the full Part 25 airworthiness approval Heart will need before the ES-30 can enter airline service.
X1’s Airliner-Scale Specifications
- Wingspan: 106 feet (32 meters)
- Length: 76 feet (23 meters), nose to tail
- Takeoff weight: more than 25,000 pounds (11,340 kilograms)
- Peak power output: over 1 megawatt
- Flight duration: 27 minutes
- Maximum altitude reached: 1,100 feet AGL
Five Dollars of Electricity Against Rising Jet Fuel Costs
Heart Aerospace said the flight used approximately $5 worth of electricity from takeoff to landing. The company timed the announcement against a backdrop of climbing jet fuel prices, which averaged $3.50 per gallon for the week ending August 7, up 63% from the same week a year earlier.
That gap between electric and jet-fuel costs sits at the center of Heart’s pitch to airlines. Cheaper, more stable power costs would let airlines plan schedules without the fuel-price swings that regularly force fare and capacity changes on short regional routes.
Regional turboprops and small jets burn a disproportionate share of fuel per seat compared with larger mainline aircraft, since they fly shorter routes with more frequent takeoffs and landings. Airlines have long treated these routes as the hardest to keep profitable when fuel prices climb, which is part of why United and Air Canada moved early to secure ES-30 delivery positions.
United Airlines and Air Canada Back the ES-30 Program
United Airlines (UA) has already committed to the ES-30 and holds an order for 100 aircraft with options for 50 more, according to United’s own fleet disclosures. United’s chief financial officer, Michael Leskinen, described the first flight as a major technical achievement for a company the airline has supported through its development.
Air Canada (AC) is also a customer and investor in the ES-30 program. The carrier’s chief financial officer, John Di Bert, framed the investment as part of Air Canada’s broader push to back new aircraft technology alongside operational efficiency gains and sustainable fuel use. Regional operator JSX rounds out the announced customer list.
Heart Aerospace says it holds $9.4 billion in customer commitments across its airline partners. That backing gives the company financial runway as it moves from demonstrator flights toward full FAA certification of a passenger-carrying design.
From ES-19 Concept to a 2031 Regional Airliner
Heart Aerospace has changed its aircraft design once already. The company started in 2018 with a plan for the all-electric, 19-seat ES-19, then switched in 2022 to the larger, 30-seat, hybrid-electric ES-30 after determining a bigger, hybrid design suited airline route networks better.
The ES-30 is being developed for FAA Part 25 certification, the standard applied to commercial passenger aircraft. Heart expects it to cut aircraft operating costs by more than 40% compared with the regional turboprops and small jets flying similar routes today, driven by lower energy costs, lighter maintenance needs, and simplified electric flight systems.
Heart is now building the first pre-production ES-30 at a pilot manufacturing plant in Los Angeles. Flight testing of that aircraft is scheduled to begin in 2028, ahead of a targeted 2031 entry into airline service.
All in All
Heart Aerospace is not alone in chasing electric flight, but its rivals have mostly stayed smaller. US-based Eviation flew its nine-seat, all-electric Alice commuter aircraft for the first time in 2022, a design built for short hops rather than mainline regional routes.
Where Eviation and similar developers have targeted small commuter or air-taxi aircraft, Heart’s hybrid-electric approach on the ES-30 targets the 30-seat segment airlines already fly today with turboprops.
Heart’s next milestones run through further X1 test flights at Plattsburgh, continued ES-30 manufacturing work in Los Angeles, and the start of ES-30 flight testing in 2028. FAA certification under Part 25 remains the biggest hurdle before the aircraft can carry paying passengers.
