AURA AERO, Daytona Beach
“ Some of the equipment we get is in the U. S., such as the avionics and the engine, so it makes sense not to ship those parts over to France but do the completions in Daytona Beach,” McEwen said. Beginning in 2027, the facility also will support flight testing for AURA AERO’ s new all-electric INTEGRAL E model.
In 2028, AURA AERO will open a $ 172.5 million, 500,000-square-foot facility at its Daytona Beach site to begin manufacturing its 19-seat ERA( Electric Regional Aircraft), which it intends to be the world’ s first hybrid electric regional aircraft. The company also plans to make the plane at its France facility.
The Daytona facility will create more than 1,000 jobs with an average annual salary of $ 70,000 and produce up to 100 aircraft per year beginning in 2029.
“ Florida has long been a leader in aeronautics and space, and the technical expertise of its workforce is a tremendous asset in asserting our leadership in the electric and hybrid electric aviation sectors,” said Jérémy Caussade, president and co-founder of AURA AERO, in an Embry-Riddle press release.“ The State of Florida, Space Florida( the state’ s aerospace finance and development authority) and Embry‐Riddle Aeronautical University have always believed in us and supported us from the beginning in this project, which is
Jérémy Caussade now coming to fruition.”
Daytona-area universities’ contributions to a“ very capable workforce” were another factor in AURA AERO’ s decision, McEwen said. Also, Embry-Riddle was“ very attractive” because“ we will partner with them on some of the research and testing on our electric airplane.”
Space Florida provided a $ 3.4 million investment in the INTEGRAL facility, and for the ERA facility it will provide up to $ 200 million in financing“ tied to various incentives with job creation being the key one,” McEwen said.
Keith Norden, president and CEO of the Team Volusia Economic Development Corporation, said one of his organization’ s“ strongest target industries is aviation and aerospace. Having a trailblazing French company like AURA AERO choose Volusia County to be their U. S. headquarters and manufacturing and assembly facility signals to the industry that international investment and innovation are flourishing here, as companies leverage all the great strategic benefits there are in locating to the Greater Daytona Region... In our international and national outreach, we promote the groundbreaking work in hybrid electric regional aircrafts that AURA AERO will do here, elevating our presence in the industry, putting us even more strongly on the map for aviation and aerospace, and manufacturing companies.”
The U. S. is the world’ s largest training market, with nearly 600 FAA-approved flight schools, according to Embry-Riddle, and so there is“ a growing demand for modern, cost-effective training aircraft with aerobatic capabilities.” Thus, a sizable market awaits AURA AERO’ s two-seater INTEGRAL.
Concerning the ERA, McEwen said,“ There are a lot of paper airplane companies that really haven’ t done anything yet – they talk about it( hybrid electric aircraft) but to actually do it is a next step. We’ re the first company doing a hybrid electric regional airliner with 19 seats. The technology is not really there to do much bigger, because of the density and weight of the batteries. But we feel like we’ re the first in this race, if you want to call it that.”
Once the ERA gets certifications from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency( EASA) and the FAA, the aircraft will revitalize the regional airline industry, McEwen said.
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