Loganair, the UK's largest regional airline, signed an agreement on day one of the 2026 Farnborough International Airshow to buy five all-electric ALIA CX300 aircraft from BETA Technologies with options for five more — a deal that would make the Glasgow-based carrier the first commercial airline in Europe to operate an all-electric fleet.
What Loganair is buying and when it flies
The order covers five ALIA CX300 conventional take-off and landing aircraft with an additional five aircraft on option. First deliveries are slated for 2029 into scheduled passenger and cargo service on Loganair's short-haul network across Scotland, the Highlands and the UK's remote islands. The aircraft will be integrated alongside the airline's existing ATR, Embraer E-Jet and Saab 340 fleet.
The ALIA CX300 is BETA's fixed-wing, all-electric platform: a six-seat, single-motor design with demonstrated range in excess of 300 nautical miles and cruise speeds up to 135 knots, targeted specifically at the regional and cargo routes where turboprops are today's benchmark.
Why an electric fleet fits Scottish regional flying
Loganair's route network is unusually well suited to short, battery-powered flights — the airline connects Scottish island communities where sectors are frequently under 200 nautical miles and airport infrastructure is compact. The company completed the UK's first commercial electric flight demonstration programme in March 2026, flying BETA's CTOL prototype 23 times in 10 days across Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, Wick and Kirkwall, covering more than 1,000 nautical miles in real-world conditions.
Loganair CEO Luke Farajallah called today's signing “a truly historic moment for Loganair and European aviation,” and said the demonstration flights “demonstrated the potential to reduce operating costs by up to 80% while maintaining the reliable regional connectivity our customers and communities depend on.” BETA CEO Kyle Clark framed the agreement as “what happens when demonstrated performance meets an operator serious about the future of regional aviation.”
Farnborough turns electric
The Loganair signing lands as the Farnborough Airshow doubles as a showcase for advanced-air-mobility platforms alongside more conventional narrowbody and widebody orders. Vertical Aerospace is running the first public eVTOL demonstration flights of the week, and Anduril and Archer Aviation unveiled the Thunder autonomous tiltrotor on the same day.
BETA has been steadily converting its Charge Cube ground infrastructure and CX300 airframe into commercial contracts with UPS, Air New Zealand, United Therapeutics and now Loganair. The Vermont-based company is also delivering its ALIA-250 eVTOL variant to launch operators, targeting a similar regional-mobility mission set. For Loganair, the Farnborough signing is the natural sequel to the winter demonstration — and the clearest sign yet that electric regional aviation is transitioning from press releases into fleet planning.
Reporting based on coverage from Aerospace Global News, FlightGlobal and Loganair and BETA Technologies statements at Farnborough 2026.