European aircraft developer Maeve Aerospace is introducing a new, hybrid-electric 80-seater aircraft and expanding to Oberpfaffenhofen Airport (Munich) to accelerate work on the program. The aircraft is designed to support the future of the regional aviation market, delivering a decarbonised, low energy solution with regional jet performance and turboprop economics.

The challenge in decarbonising aviation is energy and cost-efficiency, to ensure adoption by the aviation industry. That is why Maeve is developing the M80, a hybrid-electric aircraft with 800 nm (1,482 km) of range, 40% higher energy efficiency and no impact on infrastructure. Maeve has optimised the aircraft concept, to attain best-in-class specifications with regards to passenger capacity, range, lead time and energy needed for implementation.

The Maeve M80 offers the performance of a jet and the efficiency of a turboprop, which the company says is a game-changing combination. The M80 is a clean sheet design with a newly integrated hybrid propulsion system resulting in significant reduction of mission energy and fuel consumption. This makes the M80 the perfect replacement of both the regional jets and turboprops.

Martin Nuesseler, CTO of Maeve Aerospace says: “To my knowledge, there are currently no alternatives in development that are equally sustainable, cost effective, and match the operational needs of airlines and airports. If there are, I would applaud them, because we need more of these realistic solutions to become sustainable”.

The unique aircraft performance is the result of an aerodynamically optimised clean sheet design and integrated new hybrid propulsion technology. The benefit of taking advantage of an altitude optimised thermal process in combination with electric hybridisation offers the significant energy reduction of the M80. To realise this, Maeve has a robust integrated product development plan in place towards Entry-In-Service in 2031, based on the experience and lessons learned from several aircraft programs, and their industrial ramp-up.

Such a clean-sheet aircraft design requires the best team in the industry and a fast ramp-up of the organisation, which is why several aviation experts have joined Maeve in this next development phase. These experts will be based at Maeve's new location at Oberpfaffenhofen Airport near Munich. Oberpfaffenhofen is a breeding ground for innovation and home to many aviation companies.