Electric aircraft takes flight

Will the future of flight be all electric? There are certainly high hopes in France with Airbus showing off its latest small two seater prototype.

Under the watchful eyes of French environment minister Ségolène Royal, the plane – called the E-fan – successfully made a demonstration flight, the second since its debut in April.

With a totally electric propulsion system, the cost of an hour’s flight in the E-fan is estimated to be about 2 euros compared to around 40 euros in a normal plane using kerosene.

For now, Airbus plans to use it to train pilots, but the group says it is working on developing models which could carry up to 100 passengers for regional flights.