Air Nostrum, the Spanish regional airline, and Dovetail Electric Aviation, the developer of electric conversions for aircraft originated from Dante Aeronautical, have signed a formal partnership agreement to deliver zero-emission conversions to the regional airline market. Under the agreement, Air Nostrum will purchase 10 retrofits of battery and hydrogen electric aircraft to be converted by Dovetail.

This agreement between Dovetail and Air Nostrum is a clear sign of the need for zero-emission conversions in the regional airline sector, driven by proactive operators like Air Nostrum, and a natural step after the Spanish operator’s investment in Dovetail (and Dante Aeronautical) realized last year.

As part of this agreement Air Nostrum and Dovetail will work together in the identification of applicable routes, whether currently operated by Air Nostrum, or new ones, where the introduction of electric aircrafts can be viable in the short term. This collaboration demonstrates Air Nostrum ́s commitment to accelerate the transition into new technologies to enable nil-emissions flights.

Dovetail is at the forefront of the regional and general aviation industry, aiming to create a sustainable era through enabling aviation operators to fly regional routes in zero emission, electric powered aircraft.

Dovetail is initially targeting certification of its first battery-electric powered aircraft in late 2025 or early 2026, as a first step to bring a product in the market. Later, Dovetail will focus on the certification of electric-hydrogen aircraft conversions. The purpose behind an electric-hydrogen aircraft conversion for Dovetail is to extend the range of the battery-powered aircraft.

The conversion of turbine aircraft into electric promises the advent of zero emissions aviation into the mainstream much faster and more cost effectively than via new design, due to the magnitude of a clean sheet design and the regulatory hurdles associated to it. Dovetail will certify the entire propulsion system of an aircraft by integrating the electric motor, battery packs, electric distribution unit and hydrogen fuel cells into one ‘drive-train’ on an existing airframe. In doing so, it will generate unique IP in conversion engineering, testing technology and power plant machine learning to optimise powerplant performance.