Safarilink and Yellow Wings are aiming to potentially transform regional aviation within Kenya and East Africa by demonstrating the viability and impact that electrified Cessna Caravans will have on the industry.
Safarilink, an airline connecting domestic scheduled flights to destinations within Kenya and Tanzania, and Yellow Wings Air Services, a Kenyan air operator that serves over 500 airfields throughout the East Africa region, are to upgrade their Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft with Surf Air Mobility’s (an American electric aviation company) proprietary electrified powertrain technology, once certified.
The two companies are pioneering the adoption of technologies necessary for a greener and quieter (crucial for Kenyan wildlife) future in transportation, and the agreement with Surf Air Mobility to develop the electrified Caravans also aligns with the Kenyan government's recent announcement to completely move away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources by 2030. A Cessna aircraft typically uses aviation gasoline as its fuel.
Both Safarilink and Yellow Wings already focus on sustainability and wildlife conservation efforts, however the companies believe the move to electrified aircraft will drive sustainability even further while setting the stage for global transformation.
"We at Safarilink are committed to doing everything possible to preserve the natural beauty of the countries we operate in," says CEO, Alex Avedi. "Implementing Surf Air Mobility's electric powertrain technology will help us reduce the noise and minimise the climate impact of our flights as we help people from all over the world to experience our region's incredible ecosystem."
"We strongly believe in alternative propulsion for air travel. We have always been the frontrunners in adopting new systems and innovations. Kenya, with 91% carbon-free power generation, is the ideal country to spearhead this movement," adds Yellow Wings CEO, Christian Strebel.
As the exclusive partner of Textron (an American industrial conglomerate) to electrify the Caravan, Surf Air Mobility is focused on building its business in regions around the world, such as Africa, that are already significant markets for the aircraft and where transportation providers are quickly adopting innovative mobility solutions.
Surf Air is developing the supplemental type certification for both hybrid and fully electric variants of the Cessna Grand Caravan.
"The Caravan is an amazing aircraft on which to develop our electrified powertrain, and we believe Safarilink's and Yellow Wings' operations are perfectly suited to demonstrate the benefits of our technology. We believe Africa is at the cutting edge of regional air mobility,” says CEO, Stan Little.
