Heart Aerospace completes maiden flight of electric aircraft demonstrator X1
Heart Aerospace has completed the maiden flight of its battery-electric X1 demonstrator, which the company says is the largest electric aircraft ever flown. The demonstrator will provide the technical foundation for Heart Aerospace’s ES-30 hybrid-electric regional aircraft.
Heart Aerospace has announced the completion of the maiden flight of its X1 earlier this week. The demonstrator aircraft features a wingspan of 32.3 metres, a length of 23.2 metres, a height of 7.3 metres, and a take-off weight of approximately 11,340 kilogrammes. With these specifications, the Los Angeles-based developer hails it as “the largest battery-electric aircraft ever to have flown.”
The flight took place on Wednesday, 12 August 2026, at a test site at Plattsburgh International Airport, a regional airport in the northern part of New York State. According to Heart Aerospace, the manned flight lasted 27 minutes and reached an altitude of 335 metres. The electric powertrain delivered a power output of over one megawatt during the flight.
The flight was conducted under a “Special Airworthiness Certificate in the Experimental Category” (SAC-EC) issued by the US aviation authority, the FAA. The test included taxiing, take-off, climb, in-flight manoeuvres, and landing.
“With the first flight of X1, Heart Aerospace has demonstrated electric flight at the scale of a commercial airliner,” said Anders Forslund, Founder and CEO of Heart Aerospace. “Electric commercial aircraft have the potential to fundamentally reshape airline economics and, ultimately, lower the cost of air travel for passengers. This is at the heart of our vision for abundant air travel, with electrification enabling more affordable, frequent, and cleaner air service to and from airports closer to home.”
The X1 is a full-scale demonstrator that will pave the way for Heart Aerospace’s production aircraft, the ES-30. The X1’s role is to test key technologies, aerodynamics, and flight performance for the upcoming production model. The ES-30, however, will not be a purely electric aircraft but a hybrid-electric regional aircraft with 30 seats. Heart Aerospace states that it has already received several customer commitments for this model—”from major air carriers including United Airlines, Air Canada, and JSX.” The ES-30 is scheduled for market introduction in 2031.
“Through the X1 program, Heart has built the capability to design, build, test, operate, and continuously improve a clean-sheet electric commercial aircraft,” said Ben Stabler, Chief Technology Officer. “We are carrying that full-stack capability directly into the ES-30, our first production aircraft and the foundation of a broader technology platform for electric airliners.”
Heart Aerospace was originally founded as a Swedish start-up in Gothenburg but fully relocated its official headquarters to Los Angeles in the spring of 2025.