French electric aviation startup Aura Aero announced on February 19, 2024, the successful first power-on of its INTEGRAL E all-electric prototype aircraft at its Toulouse-Francazal facilities, in southern France.
The INTEGRAL E is a two-seater light aircraft which Aura Aero expects will pave the way for the development of the much larger “ERA” 19-seater hybrid-electric regional aircraft. The French company is currently working on both aircraft programs in parallel, with the INTEGRAL E serving as a test bank for the electric propulsion technologies that will then be rolled out on the airliner.
Aura Aero said it will start the INTEGRAL E flight test campaign in the upcoming weeks, with the goal of the aircraft entering service no later than 2026.
Aura Aero has developed and flight-tested the INTEGRAL R and S models, a conventionally fossil-fuel-powered version of the two-seater aircraft. It also plans to develop a tow-plane version of the INTEGRAL E, in partnership with the French Gliding Federation (FFVP).
