BETA Technologies is beginning electric aircraft test flights Tuesday from Scholes International Airport in Galveston, Texas. The flights are expected to continue for about three weeks as the company evaluates the aircraft during operations around southeast Texas.
Flights Around Southeast Texas
“The flight testing will be between Galveston up to Sugar Land and Brenham, Texas,” Scholes International Airport Director Mike Shahan told KHOU.
The flights will give BETA additional operating time outside its primary flight-test facilities and allow the company to evaluate the aircraft under real-world conditions.
Scholes already has infrastructure in place to support the aircraft. Galveston approved a 10-year ground lease with BETA in 2024 for an electric aircraft and vehicle charging site at the airport, which was planned as the company’s first charging location in Texas. The installation includes space for an aircraft charger and two electric-vehicle chargers.
Broader FAA Testing
The Texas flights come as BETA participates in several projects under the FAA’s Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Integration Pilot Program (eIPP). The Transportation Department selected eight eIPP projects in March, including a Texas Department of Transportation effort involving BETA, Archer, Joby and Wisk that calls for regional operations connecting several of the state’s major cities.
BETA completed another eIPP operation in July when its ALIA aircraft transported an animal organ between airports in Virginia and Maryland as part of a medical-transport demonstration. The FAA said information gathered through the program will be used to identify operational constraints, refine procedures and inform future rules and training for integrating advanced air mobility aircraft into the National Airspace System.
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