Elfly Group, the developer of the all-electric ‘No Emissions’ (Noemi) seaplane, has moved into new facilities at TORP Sandefjord Airport in southern Norway.
The team now has 30 members from Airbus, Dornier Seawings, Heart Aerospace, Pilatus Aircraft and HondaJet.
Elfly Group has taken up 1,160 sq m of office and workshop space in the airport’s 1,700-metre hangar, where it will build its first full-scale ‘Noemi’. Testing and validation of the aircraft will also take place there.
TORP Sandefjord Airport, owned by the municipality of Sandefjord and Vestfold County, together with Vestfold Flyplassinvest AS, is the largest privately-owned airport in Norway, 110 km southwest of Oslo. It welcomes international and national scheduled air services from Ryanair, Widerøe, Norwegian, Wizz Air and airBaltic.
“TORP Airport is an excellent new location for us to build and engineer while we retain our business unit in Bergen,” said Elfly founder and CEO Eric Lithun. It affords us plenty of space to grow for testing and also as we ramp up our team this year.”
“TORP is encouraging Elfly in its efforts to introduce zero-emission aircraft as electric planes, undoubtedly, will contribute towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly aviation. We look forward to following their progress very closely as a valued new tenant,” commented Gisle Skansen, CEO of TORP Sandefjord Airport.
Elfly Group’s green seaplane
Elfly Group first unveiled its prototype design of the Noemi in June 2023 in Norway, and in September, announced it had secured a US$8 million funding grant from the Norwegian government enterprise Enova SF.
The ‘Noemi’ seaplane will carry from 9 to 13 people and will powered by two electric motors with a combined output of 1MW. Inspired by de Havilland’s Twin Otter and Grumman’s Mallard, this seaplane is designed for 200 km journeys, first starting out transferring passengers across the fjords and lakes of Norway.
The prototype plane will be developed for flight in 2026, with a targeted commercial rollout in Norway by 2030.
Image credit: Elfly Group
