All-electric ALIA aircraft makes first flight in Norway

Bristow Norway AS, a subsidiary of Bristow Group Inc., flew BETA Technologies' all-electric ALIA CX300 aircraft at Stavanger Airport, marking the first operations of Norway's Test Arena for Zero & Low Emission Aviation. The flights, which are being conducted in cooperation with state-owned management company of 44 airports, Avinor, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway (CAA Norway), mark a step toward integrating and scaling advanced air mobility (AAM) in Norway and the surrounding regions.

The Test Arena will consist of a series of evaluation flights over the next several months, to test likely customer routes at Avinor-owned airports throughout Norway. Early routes will see ALIA fly between Stavanger and Bergen airports, with potential for the program to expand to additional routes across Norway later this year. The aircraft will be flown by BETA-trained Bristow pilots.

The flight was conducted by Bristow pilot, Jeremy Degagne, and Beta pilot, Nate Dubie. In addition to kicking off Norway's first Test Arena, this flight represents another key step on the road to commercializing AAM. A BETA-trained Bristow crew will pilot and maintain BETA's aircraft throughout the six-month regulatory sandbox evaluation project helping pave the way for future delivery and integration of this technology into the region.

A team of BETA pilots and maintainers delivered this aircraft, N214BT, to the Test Arena following a weeks-long, 6,976 km journey across the EU. The flights, which originated in Shannon, Ireland, have taken BETA's aircraft over the Irish Sea, through the UK, over the English Channel, and to the Paris Air Show – where ALIA flew every day – followed by Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark, and, ultimately, Norway.