An artist’s conception shows Eviation’s Alice aircraft with Evia Aero’s livery. (Eviation Illustration)

Arlington, Wash.-based Eviation Aircraft says Evia Aero, a nascent European regional airline that’s based in Germany, has signed a letter of intent to purchase 25 of Eviation’s all-electric commuter Alice aircraft.

The airline hasn’t yet gone into service, but it eventually intends to use the nine-passenger Alice planes as its primary aircraft for point-to-point regional travel within Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands.

“Together with Eviation, a pioneer of electric flight, we will introduce a fleet of zero-emission aircraft that will transform the way we experience regional travel in Europe,” Florian Kruse, founder and CEO of Evia Aero, said today in a news release. “We are deeply committed to holistically transforming the aviation industry by implementing a complete cycle of local energy generation, storage, and flight operations.”

Gregory Davis, Eviation’s president and CEO, hailed Evia Aero’s commitment to electric air travel. “The creation of an all-electric European commuter fleet of Alice aircraft will advance an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable future of flight,” Davis said.

Eviation put an Alice prototype through its first flight test last month. The plane is powered by two 640-kilowatt MagniX motors built in Everett, Wash., and it’s expected to become available by 2027 in different configurations for passenger, cargo and business-travel applications.

In addition to the Evia Aero order, the company has commitments for Alice purchases from DHL Express, Cape Air and GlobalX. Financial terms of the orders have not been announced.

Eviation’s Alice airplanes aren’t likely to be the only aircraft in Evia Aero’s zero-emissions fleet. In June, Evia Aero’s signed a separate deal with Britain’s Cranfield Aerospace Solutions to purchase 10 hydrogen fuel cell conversion kits for nine-passenger Britten-Norman Islander airplanes.

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