Metro Aviation orders up to 20 aircraft from BETA
Air medical operator Metro Aviation has placed a deposit-backed order for up to 20 of BETA Technologies’ Alia eVTOL aircraft.
Metro, which is one of the world’s largest traditional air medical operators, plans to integrate BETA’s aircraft into its exiting network to carry out both inter-hospital and scene transports. Today, the firm operates 170 aircraft for 42 programmes across 27 states in the US.
“We are all about the relationships we have with our partners,” said Metro’s vice president and co-owner Todd Stanberry. “Yes, we believe BETA has the superior product in the eVTOL space, and they are taking the right approach to entering the market, but most importantly, they genuinely care about our opinion and everyone checks their ego at the door. This made the decision easy for Metro. We are aligned with BETA in so many ways, from people, to safety, to quality and we are thrilled about this new partnership.”
A rendering of BETA’s Alia VTOL in Metro Aviation livery. (credit: Metro Aviation)
BETA has begun producing both variants — VTOL and CTOL — of its aircraft alongside proprietary charing technology at its newly-constructed facility in Vermont, US. Both aircraft types have the ability to carry up to 1,250 lbs of payload or five-passengers and a pilot and have attracted orders from companies like UPS, Air New Zealand and Bristow, as well as government entities such as the US Department of Defense.
The company is also building out a charging network across the US. It has 35 chargers online along the east, west and Gulf coasts, and 50 additional sites are in development.
“We originally designed Alia with organ and tissue transport in mind, so we are excited to complement that mission with Metro and its family of healthcare providers across the country,” said Kyle Clark, BETA’s founder and CEO. “Electric aviation brings reliability at a lower cost, which makes it a strong value proposition for urgent transport like hospital transfers and emergency response.”
