AURA AERO announces major orders, strategic partnerships at Paris Air Show 2025
French aircraft developer AURA AERO selected this year’s edition of the Paris Air Show, which took place at Le Bourget from June 16-22, 2025, to make a raft of announcements related to the industrial, financial, and commercial aspects of its electric and hybrid-electric aircraft programs.
The Toulouse-based company confirmed it has secured Letters of Intent (LoI) for more than 100 of its future ERA hybrid-electric, 19-seater, regional aircraft from several additional operators, bringing its total order book to more than 650.
These latest commitments include an order for 20 aircraft (plus 20 options) from Solyu, a Korean aircraft lessor specializing in sustainable aviation, and another 20 (also with 20 options) from Marathon Airlines, a Greek charter and ACMI provider that is considering using the aircraft on regional routes connecting the Aegean islands.
Lithuania’s Jump Air, a charter and ACMI operator currently operating two ATR turboprops, also signed for 10 ERAs (plus 10 options) and Safarilink, a Kenyan operator focused on the safari-related air travel market across East Africa, has ordered six units of this new aircraft type.
AURA AERO has also entered into a strategic partnership with French charter operator Amelia to explore the feasibility of conducting regional operations in the future using the ERA aircraft.
Strategic partnerships and funding bolster expansion plans
In parallel to this, the French startup is making strides towards the implementation of its long-term industrial roll-out plans and is counting on the continued backing of several aerospace innovation support programs on both sides of the Atlantic.
AURA AERO is the first aerospace project to be selected for the EU’s Innovation Fund program, a program funded by the EU’s Emission Trading System (ETS), which will allocate a total of €95 million to 85 decarbonization projects in 18 European countries. The announcement was made to coincide with a visit by Wopke Hoekstra, the European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, to the company’s booth at the Paris Air Show.
Another prominent visitor to the show was Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. AURA AERO is making the Sunshine State its US base, with the backing of Space Florida, a public agency tasked with attracting aerospace industry investments to Florida.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visiting AURA AERO at the Paris Air Show. Picture: AURA AEROAURA AERO has already built a 10,000 square foot hangar within the Embry-Riddle University Research Park in Daytona Beach, Florida, a project supported by a $3.4 million investment from Space Florida. In the next phase of its US expansion, AURA AERO will set up an assembly line for the ERA airliner as well as a customer service center at its Daytona Beach facility. This project will also receive the backing of Space Florida, which will help AURA AERO fund the $200 million investment.
And, in yet another strategic deal, AURA AERO and Munich-based electric aircraft startup Vaeridion entered a partnership which aims to leverage the two companies’ complementarities to accelerate the respective sustainable aircraft programs of both companies.
Vaeridion’s all-electric, nine-seater Microliner, sits nicely between AURA AERO’s INTEGRAL E all-electric two-seater light trainer aircraft and the 19-seater ERA hybrid-electric regional airliner.
The two companies will collaborate in a number of fields, such as helping define charging infrastructure standards, and advocating jointly for policies that foster a faster adoption of electric aviation in Europe, as well as collaborating in joint laboratory and flight-testing research.
These developments follow AURA AERO’s recent announcement of its diversification into the military sector through participation in a drone program. Earlier in June 2025, the startup revealed it is working on the development a “low-cost high-performance” MALE (Medium Altitude Long Endurance) drone, which will be called ENBATA and will have a size and role similar to the US-made MQ-9 Reaper. AURA AERO launched the project in response to a request from the French General Directorate of Armaments (DGA).
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French aircraft developer AURA AERO selected this year’s edition of the Paris Air Show, which took place at…
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