Cook Strait in New Zealand is crossed by an electric plane

A New Zealand business said that its all-electric plane has completed the 48-mile journey across the country’s Cook Strait, making it the first of its kind.

The Pipistrel Alpha Electro plane was piloted by ElectricAir founder Gary Freedman during the approximately 40-minute journey from Omaka to Wellington Airport, according to the company.

According to the business, Freedman’s flight set a new world record for the longest all-electric plane flying over water.

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The airplane was scheduled to arrive in Glasgow just in time for the United Nations’ COP26 Climate Change Conference.

As Freedman stated after his flight, “This is the start of a radical change in the way we fly. Bigger, longer-range electric aircraft are on the way and are ideal for short-haul routes.”

He added, “New Zealand is the perfect place for electric planes to be widely used, with one of the highest rates of short-haul flights per person of any country in the world and an electricity grid powered from predominantly renewable sources.”

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