Bristow Group and Electra to flight test hybrid ultra-STOL aircraft in Norway

Bristow Group has partnered with US advanced air mobility (AAM) startup Electra, Norwegian government-owned airport operator Avinor and the Norway’s Civilian Aviation Authority, to conduct flight tests of hybrid-electric aircraft in the Scandinavian country. 

This new initiative, announced on April 21, 2026, follows the successful completion of a similar program which involved Bristow Group flight testing in real operational conditions of BETA Technologies CX300 ALIA all-electric CTOL aircraft.  

Like in that occasion, the upcoming flight demonstration program with Electra aims to test the feasibility of operating regional and local air connections in Norway’s rugged and sparsely populated territory with zero‐ and low‐emission aircraft.  

Electra’s ultra-short takeoff and landing aircraft, which is capable of landing and taking off from surfaces as short as 50 meters, opens up interesting opportunities to connect many of the small communities in hard-to-reach locations in the Norwegian mountains, fjords and islands where few alternative land transportation options exist. 

The test program will start mid-2027 and last six months. The plan is to start testing a number of use cases and missions at small airports in Northern Norway and progressively expand the operational envelope to include unusual landing locations, such as vertiports or even parking spaces, to finally test operations at large airports with significant commercial traffic. This way, the participants in the program will be able to calibrate the regulatory requirements of new types of aircraft, such as Electra’s. 

Norway has been an early proponent of low-carbon aviation. It was the first country in the world to set for itself a specific goal of fully electrifying all domestic flights by 2030 and make its domestic aviation entirely fossil fuel-free by 2040. It is in this context that Norway’s public aviation organizations, including the aviation authority and the national airport operator Avinor have pitched the country as a “test arena” for novel forms of low and zero carbon emissions aviation. 

While headquartered in Texas, Bristow Group has a significant rotorcraft operation in Norway, mostly in support of the country’s offshore oil and gas industry. The group’s commitment to the advanced air mobility industry has so far been remarkable. In addition to the Norwegian pilot programs, it is involved in the drafting of eVTOL network deployment plans in the UK and Saudi Arabia in partnership with Vertical Aerospace and The Helicopter Company, respectively. The company also participates in the eIPP pilot program, run by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to accelerate the development of advanced air mobility in the United States.The post Bristow Group and Electra to flight test hybrid ultra-STOL aircraft in Norway appeared first on AeroTime.

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