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Ocean Flyer's Manufacturer, REGENT, Unveils Full-Size Seaglider
American seaglider manufacturer REGENT, being brought to New Zealand by Ocean Flyer, has hit a significant milestone with the launch of a full-scale craft.
The achievement follows years of research and development and indicates the full-scale design of the revolutionary seagliders, with a full-size prototype due to begin testing in 2024.
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The full-scale craft follows successful flights of the company’s quarter-scale prototype last year and represents major progress in the build journey for REGENT while giving future passengers an idea of how it will revolutionise travel.
REGENT also announced plans to expand its global headquarters in Rhode Island by 55,700m – equivalent of around 8 rugby pitches - for new manufacturing and test facilities. The expansion has potential to enable fulfilment of $13 billion in commercial orders by 2025.
Ocean Flyer CEO Shah Aslam was a keynote speaker at the launch of the full-size design at the REGENT production facility in Rhode Island, USA on Friday 14 April.
He says the release marks a significant day in transport history in Aotearoa as Ocean Flyer pushes on to bring a new mode of transport to our shores.
Seagliders present the most compelling opportunity to fix Aotearoa’s transport and emissions woes. As an island nation of five million people (where 70% of the population is coastal), and well-served by existing ports, seagliders give us the opportunity to provide communities with sustainable, fully electric, fast, affordable and comfortable connections. Better connectivity will give rise to productivity which will generate prosperity and enhance community wellbeing.
‘As an island nation that is distant from our trading partners, Aotearoa is heavily-reliant on lines of communication, air connections and shipping. We need resilient networks in case these lines are disrupted, domestically or internationally,’ said Aslam.
The vulnerability was highlighted eight weeks ago by the impact of tropical Cyclone Gabrielle. Multiple regions were without power and communications for up to 10 days. Some rural regions still don’t have power or communications. The situation was further exacerbated with all flights cancelled for the first 7 days, all roads in and out of major cities in the East Coast of the North Island cut off, and rail lines collapsing under the force of the floods, Aslam said.
“Fifty years ago these events were referred to as once in a lifetime, and although that may have been true then, I strongly believe that frequent occurrence of extreme weather events, around the world, is a signal that all industries must find solutions, and fast. Transport is the core of our economy. If movement stops, the world stops. As an industry heavily reliant on fossil fuels it is even more imperative that we join forces to ensure that we leave the world in a better place for future generations,” Aslam said.
Ocean Flyer will be at the forefront of a sustainable mass transport network in Aotearoa, contributing significantly to the New Zealand Government’s 2050 carbon neutral goal.
“We have to take bold steps to face the challenge of securing our planet for future generations,” Aslam said.
"The Government's ambition for New Zealand to be carbon neutral by 2050 is going to be hard to achieve but we will leave no stone unturned to turn the Ocean Flyer vision into a reality.”
Recently, REGENT has also signed up Japan Airlines and Lockheed Martin as key partners. These are significant achievements further proving that the direction Ocean Flyer took in April 2022 was the right one for Aotearoa.
ABOUT REGENT
REGENT is pioneering the future of sustainable maritime mobility. REGENT builds seagliders, a new category of electric vehicle that operates exclusively over the water that will drastically reduce the time and cost of moving people and goods between coastal cities. Seagliders will service routes up to 290kms with existing battery technology and up to 800kms with next-generation batteries, via existing dock infrastructure. REGENT has an order book of more than $12billion. For more information, visit regentcraft.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
ABOUT OCEAN FLYER
Ocean Flyer signed a historic $700m agreement in April 2022 with REGENT to bring 25 seagliders to New Zealand. Ocean Flyer is the first seaglider-only company setup in the world to bring sustainable, fully electric, fast, affordable and comfortable new mode for mass public transport.
Ocean Flyer is committed to connecting communities across the motu, tackling climate change, and building a more resilient and affordable transport network for everyone.
For more information, visit oceanflyer.co.nz and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.