Surf Air Mobility announced on Thursday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire electric aircraft company Ampaire. A closing date for the deal, which is reportedly valued at around $100 million, has not been made public. Ampaire flew its hybrid electric Electric EEL Cessna 337 Skymaster conversion for the first time in June 2019 and recently completed a monthlong commercial route demonstration program with the aircraft in partnership with Mokulele Airlines.
“With flight demonstrations and testing already in progress, Ampaire’s hybrid electric powertrain technology brings us closer to the next great shift in air travel: sustainable aviation that’s accessible to everyone,” said Surf Air Mobility co-founder and CEO Sudhin Shahani. “We see the near-term opportunity to transform existing turboprop aircraft across the entire industry as the first step to ultimately extend to fully electric aviation across all trip lengths.”
As previously reported by AVweb, California-based Surf Air acquired online aviation marketplace app BlackBird last year, forming Surf Air Mobility Corporation. Surf Air offers an “all-you-can-fly” monthly membership program with flights conducted by a network of Part 135 operators. The company’s primary focus is on 50- to 400-mile routes.
