Bromma –the perfect airport for the new electric aircrafts

I continue to stand up for Bromma Airport and for the aviation. Bromma is highly needed for so many reasons. The airport will be the perfect hub for the new electric aircrafts, which in due time will connect our capital with several major and smaller cities in the Nordics. And it will be even better when the electric aircrafts and the new climate-smart aviation fuels will be in use. Let us then see which of the following is impacting the environment most, aviation or the high-speed trains.

In order to introduce a new air route there is no need for infrastructure investments. The high-speed train, on the other hand, which is very hyped at the moment, requires large scale investments. The high-speed trains will entail enormous costs and large environmental impact. No one knows today how big this bill will end up on, or when this infrastructural development will become climate neutral.

Earlier this year we saw the first electric aircraft in the sky for a real flight. It was a two-seated plane which flew from Switzerland to northern Germany. The second aircraft of this type has been delivered to Säve Airport in Sweden during the fall, where it is meant to be used as a trainer aircraft. The plane is completely carbon dioxide neutral and is charged with electricity from a solar cell plant at the airport.

The company Heart Aerospace, who are developing a Swedish electric aircraft for 19 passengers, is also based at Säve Airport. The company expects to have its first aircraft in operation in 2025, and that we then will have completely new air routes fully dependent on electric aircrafts. For this to become reality, we must have cooperation between all involved actors; decision makers, authorities, airports and airlines.

The heavy part of the infrastructure for aviation is already in place, and the electric aircraft with entail completely new possibilities than today’s larger aircrafts can offer. Anna Pernestål, head of the transport research lab at the Royal Institute of Technology, was quoted in Göteborgs-Posten saying: “The aviation industry has moved towards larger aircrafts, bigger hubs and longer routes. But with electric aircrafts we can address planes with between 30 to 50 passengers. Thus, we can start connecting smaller locations. You won’t fly an electric aircraft to Thailand. But you might start connecting mid- and northern Sweden with Norway and Finland. You  will get a new tool in your transportation toolbox.”.

Another exciting move is from the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority who has said that all planes trafficking the Norwegian domestic flights will be electrified by 2040. This is an excellent goal in my view, not least considering that half of the domestic air traffic in Norway and one third of the domestic air traffic in Sweden regards distances on 400 kilometers or less. That is the background to why it is also thought that this transition will reduce greenhouse emissions with up to 80 per cent.

I sincerely hope that our politicians won’t have shut down Bromma Airport before this becomes reality. It would be deeply regretted for generations ahead.

Thomas Ström