Electric plane lands at JFK Airport in historic first flight to New York City

Something pretty wild just happened in New York City, and you probably didn’t even hear it… literally. You see, a fully electric aircraft just landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport, making history as the first of its kind to touch down at any of the three major airports run by the Port Authority.

The plane, called ALIA, came from aerospace company BETA Technologies and flew about 45 minutes with a handful of passengers onboard. How cool is that?

This wasn’t a gimmick, folks. The flight was part of a serious initiative from the Port Authority to test next-generation transportation technologies. It also ties into the agency’s wider goal to hit net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. So yeah, this little plane could be the beginning of a much bigger initiative.

The ALIA aircraft isn’t some far-off concept, either. It’s already racked up thousands of miles flying coast-to-coast and even through busy commercial airspace. BETA designed it initially for transporting organs, but now it’s being pitched as a solution for moving people and cargo more efficiently and cleanly. It carries up to five passengers or over a thousand pounds of cargo, and BETA’s also developed fast-charging systems to support the aircraft.

This JFK flight came in response to a formal call from the Port Authority last year, asking companies to show off their advanced aircraft at regional airports. BETA was the first to deliver. Its aircraft is also the only one of its kind with an FAA market survey certificate, meaning it’s legally allowed to fly these kinds of demonstration missions before full certification.

The Port Authority isn’t new to clean energy either. From solar arrays at JFK and Newark to fleet electrification efforts and even a decarbonized building retrofit, the agency’s been moving toward cleaner infrastructure for a while. But this flight into JFK? That’s a big, and very quiet, step forward.