Latecoere, a global leader in aircraft doors, is selected by the start-up Heart Aerospace for the preliminary design phase on all the doors of the ES-19 programme, the regional all-electric 19-seater aircraft. The ES-19 should enter into service by 2026.

Latecoere will be responsible for the design of all the ES-19 doors: passenger doors, emergency exits, and baggage hold doors. As part of a government research initiative, the Swedish start-up is developing the ES-19, an all-electric aircraft for short-haul regional air travel. The target of entering into service in 2026 has been confirmed by the recent capital increase of 35 million dollars and conditional orders for 200 aircraft from United Airlines and Mesa Airlines.

“The fully-electric ES-19 is an integral part of the carbon neutral strategy of the aerospace industry. Latecoere is delighted to be part of this project and to provide Heart Aerospace with its renowned expertise in aircraft doors and enable this innovative start-up to benefit from its engineering expertise. With this new design and engineering contract, we continue to confirm our unique expertise and position as a leading player in aircraft doors. This new reference strengthens our Engineering services business which is experiencing strong growth with aircraft manufacturers in France, the United States and now Sweden” declared Greg Huttner, Managing Director of the Aerostructures division at Latecoere.

Mr. Anders Forslund, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Heart Aerospace stated: “We are excited to announce Latecoere as a partner for our project. Aircraft doors are one of the most challenging parts of an aircraft to design, and Latecoere brings tremendous experience in this domain. We look forward to working with them in bringing the ES-19 one step closer to production.”

This initial design and engineering phase should last 18 months. The Latecoere teams will work at the Group’s headquarters in Toulouse as well as at the customer site in Gothenburg, Sweden. Heart Aerospace aims to market the ES-19 in 2026 after obtaining the necessary certifications from the relevant authorities in the US and Europe.

About the ES-19

Heart Aerospace’s first aircraft is the ES-19, a nineteen-passenger regional airplane driven entirely by batteries and electric motors. Heart anticipates delivering the first ES-19 for commercial use by 2026. The first-generation aircraft will have a maximum range of up to 400 km (250 miles), using today’s lithium-ion batteries. Range will increase as battery energy densities improve.

The core of the ES-19 is the electric propulsion system. In 2020, Heart demonstrated its first iteration of this electric propulsion system, consisting of a 400kW electric motor, an electric motor controller and a battery pack with an integrated BMS system – all with world-leading performance.

The ES-19 will have zero operational emissions and offer significantly lower operating costs compared to similar sized gas-turbine aircraft. The ES-19 aircraft will also be quieter than its turboprop counterparts, with less vibration and noise. These characteristics make the aircraft ideal for the development of short-range regional air travel. For more info, visit heartaerospace.com/faq.

About Heart Aerospace

Heart Aerospace is an electric airplane company based in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2018, the company is a spin-off from the Elise research program funded by the Swedish Government through the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova. Heart participated in the Y combinator startup accelerator in 2019 and closed its seed round in 2019 with lead investments from EQT Ventures and Norrsken Foundation. In 2021, United Airlines and Mesa Airlines made a purchase order for 200 ES-19 aircraft with an option for an additional 100 aircraft. The airlines also made large investments in the company, and in conjunction with the order, Heart Aerospace announced the closing of its Series A round, led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

Heart Aerospace is one of the founding members of the Nordic Network for Electric Aviation, together with airlines, airport operators and other stakeholders across the Nordic countries. In 2020, Heart was awarded a €2.5M grant from the European Investment Council as part of the European Green Deal. More information about Heart Aerospace can be found at https://heartaerospace.com/

Photos: Heart Aerospace