10 April, 2026

Distrust in airline sustainability claims means fewer than a third of UK travellers choose airlines based on sustainability, despite more than half saying it matters to them when booking flights. Could the launch of the UK’s first electric flights be about to change that?

Loganair is a Glasgow-based regional airline operating 70 routes across the UK, Ireland, Norway and Denmark as well as remote locations in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. It provides essential connectivity to hubs such as Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh for tourists, business travel, freight and mail services and even medical travel for remote residents.

And now, Loganair has made history by launching the UK’s first real-world electric flights, using an all-electric aircraft on existing Scottish routes. These are demonstration flights for now, carrying Royal Mail cargo rather than passengers, but they’re happening on real runways, between real places, as part of the airline’s normal network.

In other words: this isn’t a concept video or a lab test. It’s electric aviation, in motion.

And while freight journeys between remote Scottish Islands may sound niche, this could create a much bigger shift in aviation. It suggests infrastructure isn’t the blocker we often assume it is, with these e-planes operating from existing runways and charging in just 20 minutes. While electric passenger flights at scale aren’t imminent, it suggests a positive direction of travel. It’s also a boost for Royal Mail who are legally obliged to deliver to every address in the UK but have an ambitious target for net zero by 2040, proving emissions can be reduced without losing connectivity. With last year being the biggest on record for UK aviation the impact of this shift long term could be huge.

Aside from the message of hope for those of us who long for guilt-free flying, this story also reminds us how transition happens. Big system shifts rarely arrive fully formed, but in fragments – cargo before passengers, regional before international, demonstration before scale. It’s a great demonstration of what early action really looks like on the ground (or the skies), not perfect or complete but moving forward. So, even though you can’t book it yet, we hope it’s coming your way soon.

By Nia Vines