GE Aerospace announced at the Farnborough International Airshow on July 20, 2026 that it has completed the world's first hybrid-electric flight above 30,000 feet, alongside partners NASA, BETA Technologies and Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences. The longest single hybrid-electric leg of the test campaign lasted more than two hours.
The Aircraft And The System
The team modified the right side of a Saab 340B testbed with a fully integrated megawatt-class, multi-kilovolt hybrid electric propulsion system built through NASA's Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) programme. GE Aerospace supplied the motor/generators, power converters, inverters, controllers, torque sensors and a CT7 gas turbine; BAE Systems provided batteries; Aurora Flight Sciences delivered the nacelle; and BETA acted as systems integrator, flying the aircraft across the North Atlantic in hybrid mode for the airshow.
Watch The Milestone Flight
Why It Matters
Hybrid-electric propulsion pairs an electric powertrain with a conventional gas turbine to optimize power management across taxi, climb, cruise and descent. GE Aerospace has staged the technology through a decade of milestones: an electric-motor propeller ground test in 2016, altitude-chamber tests up to 45,000 feet in 2022, a strategic investment in BETA Technologies in 2025, and a modified turbofan demonstration through NASA's HyTEC project. The company says the technology feeds directly into the CFM RISE program's target of 20% better fuel burn.
What's Next
Public demonstration flights are scheduled as part of daily Farnborough displays, with the aircraft also on static view. GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp called the milestone "one for the history books," while BETA founder Kyle Clark said the flying laboratory will inform all future hybrid designs. The industry backdrop is unusually competitive: BETA landed an ALIA CX300 order from Loganair the same day.
Reporting based on coverage from GE Aerospace, NASA, BETA Technologies and Aviation Business News.