Beta Technologies' Alia aircraft at the Paris Air Show.
LE BOURGET—U.S. regional carrier Republic Airways will evaluate Beta Technologies’ all-electric CX-300 conventional-takeoff-and-landing (CTOL) aircraft for passenger and cargo use under an agreement announced here at the Paris Air Show.
Under the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Republic, Beta will provide a pre-certification Alia aircraft later this year to assess aircraft performance and routes. The collaboration also includes a joint effort to evaluate aircraft performance, operational economics, infrastructure requirements and the aircraft’s suitability for a range of regional passenger and cargo missions, the electric aircraft developer says.
Speaking in Le Bourget where the CX-300 is making its show debut, Kyle Clark, Beta’s founder and CEO, says the agreement with Republic is a “big, big deal for us.” Under the MOU, Beta will “provide a very similar aircraft to [the CTOL on display at Le Bourget] to start crew training this year in the U.S. at all of their relevant routes, leaning into identifying the routes that they're going to launch our aircraft on.”
Clark adds the agreement covers “both cargo and passenger aircraft, and it's starting with the CTOL and will go to VTOL [vertical-takeoff-and-landing] aircraft,” he says.
The production-intent aircraft at Le Bourget, N214BT, is flying daily at the air show and is touring Europe on its way to conducting a cargo operational demonstration in Norway with customer Bristow. Beta plans to certify the Alia CTOL in late 2026, initially for cargo use, with passenger operations following about a year later. Close behind, Beta’s Alia A250 VTOL version is expected to be certified in late 2027—initially for cargo use, followed by passenger operations.
Privately backed Beta has raised more than $1.2 billion in funding so far and holds orders for just under 600 Alia CTOLs and VTOLs.
In a separate announcement, Embraer's electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) offshoot Eve Air Mobility has secured an agreement with Sao Paulo helicopter operator Revo for 50 of the aircraft-developer’s four-passenger vehicles. The $250 million contract covers the initial delivery of 10 eVTOLs in late 2027, coinciding with the aircraft’s certification target.
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