An enterprise hoping to change public transport - making it affordable and fully sustainable (not to mention exciting!) - has secured $145 million in a long-term, strategic partnership to help it lift off.
Ocean Flyer, a company set up by Napier businessman Shah Aslam, who owns Air Napier, and former Royal NZ Air Force chief John Hamilton, has been working for several years on bringing the revolutionary small sea planes/seagliders to NZ.
Ocean Flyer’s new $145m deal is with MONTE, a UK-based asset manager that has invested in transport for decades and focusses on sustainability. MONTE will finance the first $145m of a $700m agreement signed in April 2022 with seaglider builder Regent and it’s hoped government and other private investors will now follow suit. Regent is backed by high-profile investors Peter Thiel and Mark Cuban and has an order book now at NZ$15b.
Timothy Eyre chief operating officer of MONTE (left) and Ocean Flyer chief executive Shah Aslam announced in May that they have signed a multi million-dollar deal to fund Ocean Flyer seagliders in New Zealand. Photo: Ocean Flyer.
Ocean Flyer has committed to purchase 25 of Regent’s electric seagliders with the first five due in NZ by 2026. The aircraft would challenge traditional planes and other public transport between coastal regions, such as routes between Whangarei, Auckland and Coromandel. MOUs with NorthPort and Northland Inc. have already been signed and support is being given by MetService. They would be regulated and certified by Maritime NZ.
Seagliders take off and land on water using hydrofoils and wings, flying 10 metres above the water’s surface. The 12-seat models can apparently travel up to 300km at 300km/h, and 100-seat models have a range of 800km and a top speed of 540km/h. Ocean Flyer says that an example of an anticipated ticket price would be for a 30 minute flight between Napier to Gisborne at around $50.
Learn more on the Ocean Flyer website or watch below.