Evia Aero signs letter of intent for up to 20 Tidal Flight Polaris amphibious aircraft

Evia Aero has signed a letter of intent with US startup Tidal Flight for up to 20 Polaris amphibious aircraft, the manufacturer said. The agreement covers ten firm orders and ten options. No binding purchase contract has been concluded, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) must recognise the aircraft's certification. Once both conditions are met, the Bremen company intends to be among the first operators to receive the Polaris.

According to Evia Aero founder and chief executive Florian Kruse, the aircraft would allow coastal and island destinations that are difficult to reach by air to be served without building new runways. Tidal chief executive Jude Augustine described Europe's coasts and islands as a target market. Flights from Lake Zurich to Monaco are among the connections the company wants to open.

Founded in 2022, Evia Aero is pursuing two goals at once: building a regional airline that operates only aircraft powered by electricity or hydrogen, and producing the power for those aircraft itself at smaller airports, using solar installations, battery storage and charging stations.

The company has announced a series of intentions since its founding. In 2022 it signed letters of intent for 15 hydrogen-converted Britten-Norman Islanders from Cranfield Aerospace Solutions and 25 all-electric Alice aircraft from Eviation. Later it added ten MDA1 aircraft from MD Aircraft of Lower Saxony and ten electric conversion kits from Clearwings. None of these aircraft has yet flown commercially. Deliveries of the Polaris are not expected before 2030 at the earliest.