Finland’s Lygg flies high after EUR 1 billion deal

The Finnish company revealed that the agreement enables it to offer 150 hybrid aircraft to operators on the platform under a hybrid-as-a-service model starting in 2028. The agreement also has an option for another 150 aircraft, which – if exercised – would push its value to more than one billion euros.

The 300 hybrid aircraft alone, the company said, make it possible to fly more than 10 million passengers a year, a number equalling 60 per cent of the international passenger volume at Helsinki Airport in 2023.

“We are first and foremost a facilitator in this operation, similarly to Uber when it offered cars to taxi drivers in Southeast Asia,” stated Roope Kekäläinen, CEO of Lygg.

“Having followed Electra for a long time, we are convinced that it will be one of the key players in the market. We, in turn, are able to offer a direct path to business operation for their aircraft through our network of corporate clients and operators.”

Lygg said Electra’s eSTOL aircraft are a perfect fit for its platform given their range of over 800 kilometres ability to take off and land on no more than roughly 100 metres of even runway, be it paved or unpaved.

“The technology makes it possible to re-write the definition of direct connection. Existing fields and fields that are closer to city centres can be put into use increasingly flexibly,” told Kekäläinen. “In Lahti, you would not need any more pavement to launch aviation operations if Electra’s aircraft were in use there today.”

Lygg also argued that the introduction of the aircraft will reduce emissions from its operations by more than 90 per cent. Its carbon footprint is further reduced by its recent decision to power all of its flights by the end of next year with sustainable aviation fuel – a switch that, if carried out, would make it the first aviation operator in the world to do so.

“In addition, they only cause a negligible amount of noise pollution,” he added.

The company launched services on routes from Helsinki to Örebro, Sweden, and Tallinn, Estonia in January 2023. In August, it complemented its network with a route between Tampere and Stockholm, Sweden.