Surf Air Mobility confirms order for 100 aircraft

Surf Air Mobility pays a deposit for first 20 aircraft with deliveries beginning in the first half of 2024

Surf Air Mobility, a regional air mobility platform aiming to sustainably connect the world’s communities, confirmed its exclusive relationship with Textron Aviation Inc, upon the completion of its public market debut. Today the company announced that deliveries of the first 20 Cessna Grand Caravan EX aircraft are expected to begin in the first half of 2024. This exclusive relationship supports Surf Air Mobility’s development of an electrified Cessna Grand Caravan EX, targeting FAA certification in 2026. Surf Air Mobility has agreed to purchase up to 150 Cessna Grand Caravan EX aircraft, with a confirmed initial fleet order of 100 aircraft and an option for 50 more. The aircraft will be upgraded to Surf Air Mobility’s proprietary electric or hybrid-electric powertrain technology by Surf Air Mobility.

Through this exclusive agreement, Surf Air Mobility plans to make electrified aircraft broadly available to new and existing operators, and to bring the benefits of lower cost, lower emission air travel at scale to customers. Surf Air Mobility will also be the exclusive provider to Textron Aviation of certain battery electric and hybrid electric powertrain technology for the Cessna Grand Caravan.

“We know from our experience that people are looking for faster, affordable, and cleaner regional travel, and we are building the ecosystem to accelerate the industry’s adoption of electric flight. We believe that significantly reducing the emissions from this category of aircraft will be the biggest step we can take toward de-carbonization in this decade,” said Sudhin Shahani, co-founder of Surf Air Mobility.

Surf Air Mobility’s vision is to utilize both an electric and hybrid-electric Cessna Grand Caravan across its network, connecting more airports with short-haul direct service while also building a regional mass transport platform to sustainably connect communities across North America.

“We are excited to see Surf Air’s progress in expanding their fleet with deliveries expected to begin early next year,” said Lannie O’Bannion, senior vice president, Textron Aviation Global Sales and Flight Operations. “The Cessna Caravan’s adaptability for passenger and cargo operations makes it an ideal platform for hybrid electric and electric propulsion innovations. This exclusive relationship is a demonstration of Textron Aviation’s commitment to the future of sustainable flight.”

“We are very proud of our relationship with Textron Aviation and excited to expand our growing network with this fleet order,” said Jamie Strecker, head of Business Development for Surf Air Mobility. “This order brings us closer to our ultimate goal to electrify our entire fleet and bring the world a more sustainable way to fly.”

Planned benefits of the new electrified architecture include:

Reducing direct operating costs by 25-50% and direct carbon emissions by up to 50-100% while providing similar performance as the current models

The aircraft should be immediately operable at more than 5,000 public use airports across the U.S. with no charging stations required for the hybrid-electric powertrain iterations

Reducing the environmental impact of flying and paving the way for future generations of even more sustainable aircraft

Enhancing the ability for a new point-to-point route network that makes direct flights more affordable and more accessible for more people in more places

Opening the ability for more Cessna Grand Caravan owners and operators to upgrade to the electric or hybrid powertrains