Long-haul flights on electric planes ‘decades’ away, Rolls-Royce admits

Long-haul passenger flights on all-electric planes are still ‘decades’ away, RollsRoyce admits


Trailblazing: Rolls-Royce’s all-electric plane Spirit of Innovation

Long-haul passenger flights on all-electric planes are still ‘decades’ away, the boss of RollsRoyce has admitted. 

Warren East told The Mail on Sunday that smaller aircraft travelling ‘a few hundred miles’ were likely to take paying passengers by the middle of this decade. 

However, he added: ‘For long-haul international [the low carbon alternative] is synthetic aviation fuel for the next couple of decades.’ 

The aero-engine supplier is aiding the development of electric aircraft and its Spirit of Innovation craft set the world all-electric airspeed record at 387.4mph.