Beta Technologies has achieved a significant milestone in aviation history as its all-electric CX300 aircraft completed its first passenger-carrying flight, successfully landing at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport — one of the world’s busiest air hubs.
The CX300 aircraft took off from East Hampton Airport in Long Island, New York, carrying a pilot and four passengers, including Matt Koscal, President of regional airline Republic Airways, and Rob Wiesenthal, CEO of Blade Air Mobility. The aircraft completed the approximately 45-minute journey and landed safely at JFK, marking a major advancement in sustainable air travel.
Beta Technologies founder and CEO Kyle Clark called the flight a “landmark achievement,” stating, “Flying a fully electric aircraft with passengers into one of the world’s busiest airports demonstrates that advanced air mobility is not a vision of the future — it is happening now.”
The CX300 is capable of fully recharging in just one hour and offers a range of up to 622 kilometers (approximately 386 miles) on a single charge. This cutting-edge aircraft was built in November 2024 in Burlington, Canada, and successfully completed its maiden test flight — a one-hour and one-minute round trip from Burlington — on November 13, 2024.
Since then, the aircraft has conducted multiple successful test flights, including a one-hour, six-minute journey from Burlington to Plattsburgh, New York, on January 10, 2025. It has since flown in and out of numerous cities including Manchester, Westfield, New York, Reading, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Rome — completing nearly 184 test flights across North America.
However, the flight into JFK with four passengers on board marks the aircraft’s first official passenger-carrying journey, highlighting the growing viability of electric aviation in commercial airspace.
