Beta Alia aircraft flight kicks off Test Arena operations in Norway

All-electric Alia CX300 flies over Norway. Source | Beta Technologies

In early August, Bristow Norway AS (Sola), a subsidiary of Bristow Group Inc., flew Beta Technologies (South Burlington, Vt., U.S.) all-electric Alia CX300 aircraft at Stavanger Airport, marking the first operations of Norway’s Test Arena for zero- and low-emission aviation (for related content, read “Second Beta eCTOL to join Norway international aircraft test arena”). The flights, which are being conducted in cooperation with Avinor (Oslo, Norway) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway (CAA Norway), mark a step toward integrating and scaling advanced air mobility (AAM) in Norway and the surrounding regions.

The Test Arena will consist of a series of evaluation flights over the next several months, to test likely customer routes at Avinor-owned airports throughout Norway. Early routes will see Alia fly between Stavanger and Bergen airports, with potential for the program to expand to additional routes across Norway later this year. The aircraft will be flown by Beta-trained Bristow pilots.

“This first flight represents a significant step on a long and complex journey,” explains Minister of Transport Jon-Ivar Nygård. “The Test Arena demonstrates cooperation between authorities, airports, manufacturers, operators — and not least, political support — which is essential.” The information learned through this program will provide valuable operational insights that could help operators, manufacturers and regulators better understand how best to move forward toward commercial operations.

Norway has already established itself as a leader in innovative clean mobility, with electric cars comprising 89% of new car registrations in 2024. This Test Arena is an evaluation of the benefits of AAM for the region and its residents — as well as an investigation into the requirements to build out an ecosystem for integrated operations.

With its composites-intensive design that optimizes payload, range and IFR capabilities, Alia is considered to be well-suited to Norway’s distributed geography and cold-weather conditions.

A team of Beta pilots and maintainers have delivered the aircraft, N214BT, to the Test Arena following a weeks-long journey across the European Union. The flights, which originated in Shannon, Ireland, have taken Beta’s aircraft over the Irish Sea, through the U.K., over the English Channel and to the Paris Air Show, followed by Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark and, ultimately, Norway.