BETA Technologies and Signature Aviation sign multi-site deal to install electric chargers at three airports across East Coast

Sig­na­ture Avi­a­tion has part­nered with BETA Tech­nolo­gies to instal elec­tric charg­ing infra­struc­ture at sev­er­al on-air­port loca­tions across the east coast of the USA.

The part­ners have already installed and com­mis­sioned their first mul­ti­modal, inter­op­er­a­ble charg­ing sta­tion at Man­ches­ter-Boston Region­al Air­port, with two more signed agree­ments in place and dis­cus­sions in progress for addi­tion­al loca­tions. 

This lat­est part­ner­ship rep­re­sents the third FBO part­ner BETA is work­ing with — fol­low­ing a deal with Atlantic Avi­a­tion and a charg­er com­mis­sioned at an AvFlight site at Gold­en Tri­an­gle Region­al Air­port in Mis­sis­sip­pi.

Derek DeCross, Chief Com­mer­cial Offi­cer for Sig­na­ture Avi­a­tion, said: “We are thrilled to fur­ther solid­i­fy our part­ner­ship with BETA, which under­scores our unwa­ver­ing com­mit­ment to shap­ing the future of avi­a­tion through our sus­tain­abil­i­ty ini­tia­tives in Sig­na­ture Renew.

“Today’s announce­ment is indica­tive of a trans­for­ma­tive time for Sig­na­ture, with our recent visu­al iden­ti­ty update focused on deliv­er­ing inno­v­a­tive hos­pi­tal­i­ty across every ele­ment of the guest jour­ney. Togeth­er with BETA, we’re not only cre­at­ing greater access to elec­tric avi­a­tion but also unlock­ing new pos­si­bil­i­ties in region­al air mobil­i­ty for our guests, all while cham­pi­oning sus­tain­abil­i­ty and inno­va­tion in the avi­a­tion indus­try.” 

BETA designed its charg­ers to be mul­ti­modal and inter­op­er­a­ble, util­is­ing an inter­na­tion­al stan­dard to ensure com­pat­i­bil­i­ty with BETA’s own all-elec­tric air­craft, oth­er devel­op­ers’ elec­tric air­craft, and ground EVs. These charg­ers offer a sin­gle solu­tion for both ground- and air-based elec­tric vehi­cles alike, pro­vid­ing recharge util­i­ty to exist­ing and near-term vehi­cles

Com­ple­ment­ing their pub­lic-access charg­er at Man­ches­ter-Boston Region­al Air­port (MHT), Sig­na­ture and BETA will be installing addi­tion­al charg­ers at Fred­er­ick Munic­i­pal Air­port (FDK) and the Charlottesville–Albemarle Air­port (CHO).

The FDK and CHO charg­ers are expect­ed to come online this sum­mer. The com­pa­nies are explor­ing addi­tion­al sites to expand their part­ner­ship in the future.  

This tech­nol­o­gy pro­vides an impor­tant foun­da­tion for inte­grat­ed oper­a­tions, posi­tion­ing Sig­na­ture to sup­port the emerg­ing elec­tric trans­porta­tion mar­ket — from elec­tric air­craft to ground EVs. This mod­erni­sa­tion effort is fun­da­men­tal to enabling next-gen­er­a­tion avi­a­tion oper­a­tions for Signature’s glob­al cus­tomer base and beyond. 

Nate Ward, BETA’s Head of Net­work Devel­op­ment, said: “As one of the lead­ing pri­vate ter­mi­nal oper­a­tors any­where in the world, Sig­na­ture takes a for­ward-lean­ing approach to best serve their broad base of avi­a­tors.

“We’re excit­ed to part­ner with Sig­na­ture as they pre­pare for what comes next, and install infra­struc­ture to enable mod­erni­sa­tion as avi­a­tion con­tin­ues to evolve. BETA has long been focused on build­ing a reli­able, acces­si­ble net­work of charg­ers for air­craft, and this col­lab­o­ra­tion rep­re­sents anoth­er impor­tant path­way toward scal­ing our net­work.”

Fol­low­ing Sig­na­ture’s recent brand trans­for­ma­tion announce­ment, this lat­est news rep­re­sents anoth­er sig­nif­i­cant step in the com­pa­ny’s jour­ney to con­nect the world through safe, seam­less, and excep­tion­al expe­ri­ences.

These Sig­na­ture sites join BETA’s grow­ing net­work of charg­ers across the U.S. To date, the com­pa­ny has brought its mul­ti­modal and inter­op­er­a­ble charg­ers online in 19 loca­tions, with anoth­er 50 sites in the per­mit­ting or con­struc­tion process. BETA’s net­work — which spans from Ver­mont to Flori­da and across to Arkansas — includes charg­ers pur­chased by the Depart­ment of Defense, region­al and state-owned air­ports, oth­er elec­tric air­craft devel­op­ers, and FBOs.

BETA has utilised many of these sites to charge its own all-elec­tric ALIA air­craft dur­ing its long-range, mul­ti-state jour­neys — includ­ing its 2,400 mile flight from Platts­burgh, New York to Eglin, Flori­da for a three month deploy­ment with the U.S. Air Force. 

MHT Air­port Direc­tor Ted Kitchens, A.A.E, added: “Man­ches­ter is emerg­ing as one of the top high-tech hubs in the North­east, and we are hon­ored that Man­ches­ter-Boston Region­al Air­port was cho­sen as Sig­na­ture and BETA’s first oper­a­tional elec­tric avi­a­tion site.

“This inter­op­er­a­ble charg­ing sta­tion will help enable Man­ches­ter and south­ern New Hamp­shire to have bet­ter access to elec­tric avi­a­tion, which will bring us bet­ter region­al air mobil­i­ty as we move into this excit­ing new era of elec­tric trans­porta­tion.”

Note: The fea­tured pic­ture is a charg­er at anoth­er NE air­port, with ALIA plugged in. Cred­it: BETA Tech­nolo­gies.