Western nations need to offer more subsidies to encourage the airline industry to switch to electric-powered planes, according to one of the leading emissions-free start-ups.Anders Forslund, chief executive and co-founder of Heart Aerospace in Sweden, said airlines were generally too focused on short-term profitability and needed countries to follow the likes of Norway, which aims to electrify all domestic flights by 2040.
“Governments are the ones making the rule book,” Forslund told the Financial Times. “There must be an economic incentive for airlines to take on this leadership. It needs a push, and it needs the push now.”
Heart, a start-up based in Gothenburg on Sweden’s west coast, is developing a 30-seater regional aircraft for 2028 and has firm orders for 230 planes from United Airlines and Mesa Airlines in the US as well as Air Canada. Other airlines including SAS, BRA and Icelandair in the Nordics have signed letters of intent for the aircraft, while Air Canada and Swedish defence company Saab became shareholders in September.