High-flying Cambridge University researchers jumped at the opportunity to be on board the first electric flights out of Cambridge City airport this week.

Researchers from the Whittle Lab and CISL’s Aviation Impact Accelerator were the among the passengers on the first demonstration flights out of Cambridge Airport in a two-person Pipistrel Velis Electro aircraft.

The aircraft is the only electric plane certified for passenger flights in the UK. It charges up in just 45 minutes and can be airborne for up to an hour. It is powered by a battery that is a third of the size of an electric car battery.

Among those eagerly collecting their boarding passes, was Dr Deepanshu Singh, a researcher in sustainable aviation and the head of strategic partnerships at the University’s world-leading Aviation Impact Accelerator in the Whittle Laboratory.

About 36 airfields around the UK are in the process of installing the charging equipment for electric planes, with 14 already installed. However, experts describe the transition to electric flights as just one piece of the puzzle. Sustainable aviation will require a mix of technologies, including novel fuels, new aircraft designs, and smarter air traffic systems to truly decarbonise the skies.

Prior to joining the AIA programme, Deepanshu Singh completed a PhD in aerospace at the University of Oxford in collaboration with Rolls Royce, focusing on an experimental aerothermal study of low emission aircraft engines.

He is also building a start-up called Neela Biotech that leverages synthetic biology and AI to power the future of flight with carbon-negative fuels, which won the 2025 Cambridge Climate Challenge.

“It was so exciting to get out of the Whittle Lab and into the sky on the world’s first electric aircraft," he said.

"Sometimes our work can feel a bit abstract but flying in this tiny electric plane, it made everything come alive. I was struck by how remarkably quiet the aircraft was - electric aviation eliminates in-flight emissions and offers improved efficiency over combustion engines.”

The aircraft is based at London’s Fairoaks Airport and has been partly funded with support from aviation sustainability group 4Air, a sister company to business aircraft charter group Flexjet.

Eliot Whittington, the chief systems change officer at CISL and spokesperson for the Aviation Impact Accelerator said the aviation industry offers people the opportunity to travel, making the world smaller and building new partnerships and connections.

"That benefit comes at an increasingly unaffordable environmental cost. As more and more of the world starts to fly, it's important to for aviation to innovate and find ways to reduce its impact," Whittington said.

"The University of Cambridge's Aviation Impact Accelerator is all about understanding the potential and choices that innovation offers the aviation sector, so we can accelerate the pace of change and reduce the pressure on the environment as quickly and effectively as possible."

Rob Miller, Director of the Whittle Lab said that decarbonising aviation is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity and the Whittle Lab's highest priority.

"We are tackling this challenge at every level: from rethinking the entire aviation system and modelling accelerated pathways to net zero, to developing the deep technologies that will power the future of flight," Miller said.
He said the Whittle's work spans a range of solutions—from battery-electric propulsion for short-range aircraft to hydrogen-powered aircraft for longer distances.

Miller said this particular flight was especially exciting because it demonstrates the potential of electric aviation and also offers critical hands-on experience with the infrastructure needed to support the transition to net zero.
"Transforming aviation is only possible through close collaboration between industry and academia—and our partnership with 4Air is a great example of what can be achieved," Miller said.

 "It is really great to get our scientists out of the lab and on this electric plane to see what can be achieved in the real world."

See Dr Deepanshu Singh describe the experience in the video below: