Latecoere has been selected by the start-up Heart Aerospace for the preliminary design phase on all the doors of the ES-19 programme, the regional all-electric 19-seater aircraft. The ES-19 should enter into service by 2026.

Latecoere will be responsible for the design of all the ES-19 doors: passenger doors, emergency exits, and baggage hold doors. As part of a government research initiative, the Swedish start-up is developing the ES-19, an all-electric aircraft for short-haul regional air travel. The target of entering into service in 2026 has been confirmed by the recent capital increase of 35 million dollars and conditional orders for 200 aircraft from United Airlines and Mesa Airlines.

"The fully-electric ES-19 is an integral part of the carbon neutral strategy of the aerospace industry. Latecoere is delighted to be part of this project and to provide Heart Aerospace with its renowned expertise in aircraft doors and enable this innovative start-up to benefit from its engineering expertise. With this new design and engineering contract, we continue to confirm our unique expertise and position as a leading player in aircraft doors. This new reference strengthens our Engineering services business which is experiencing strong growth with aircraft manufacturers in France, the United States and now Sweden" declares Greg Huttner, managing director of the aerostructures division at Latecoere.

Anders Forslund, founder and chief executive officer of Heart Aerospace stated: "We are excited to announce Latecoere as a partner for our project. Aircraft doors are one of the most challenging parts of an aircraft to design, and Latecoere brings tremendous experience in this domain. We look forward to working with them in bringing the ES-19 one step closer to production."

This initial design and engineering phase should last 18 months. The Latecoere teams will work at the group's headquarters in Toulouse as well as at the customer site in Gothenburg, Sweden. Heart Aerospace aims to market the ES-19 in 2026 after obtaining the necessary certifications from the relevant authorities in the US and Europe.