Collaboration will study how Electra’s Ultra Short aircraft can create faster, quieter, and more direct connections between Helsinki and Tallinn, where 7.5 million people travel each year.
Electra announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Helsinki and Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences to explore how Direct Aviation can enable faster, quieter, and more efficient regional air mobility across the Gulf of Finland.
The collaboration will study a new approach to Helsinki-Tallinn connectivity using Electra’s Ultra Short aircraft, designed to take off and land in just 50 metres, and compact access points located closer to where journeys begin and end. The parties will also evaluate additional regional destinations of interest to Helsinki residents, businesses, and visitors.
Helsinki and Tallinn are twin cities, with just 80 kilometers separating them across the Gulf of Finland. Approximately 7.5 million travelers move between the cities each year, reflecting their strong commercial, tourism, and cultural ties. Despite the short distance, the journey can take hours. Ferries take two hours, plus the time required to reach the terminal and board, while flying today requires traveling through international airports and the traditional airport and security process.
Direct Aviation means flying from where people are to where they want to go. By combining Ultra Short aircraft with compact access points closer to travelers, it can reduce the friction of ferry crossings, airport transfers, long drives, and hub connections and create faster, simpler, easier regional connections.
“Helsinki and Tallinn are a natural Direct Aviation market: strong travel demand, short distance, and too much friction in the journey today,” said Diana Siegel, Vice President of Commercial Programs at Electra. “By studying demand, infrastructure, operations, and economics together, we can understand what it would take to make this connection faster, quieter, and more direct.”
“Electric aviation has the potential to reshape how we think about distance and connectivity,” said Susanna Niinistö-Sivuranta, President of Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences. “New aircraft capabilities create new possibilities for connecting cities and regions. This collaboration allows us to study those possibilities rigorously, from passenger demand and economics to infrastructure and their broader impact on regional mobility.”
“Helsinki aims to grow sustainably while strengthening its accessibility, vitality and international connections,” said Ville Lehmuskoski, Executive Director, Urban Environment Division, City of Helsinki. “If emerging low-emission and electric aviation can complement the existing transport system with faster and more direct connections across the Gulf of Finland, it could create tangible benefits for residents and businesses on both sides, while supporting the development of a more sustainable and integrated regional transport system.”
Under the MOU, Electra, the City of Helsinki, and Haaga-Helia will conduct a structured feasibility effort covering access-point design, passenger demand, operating economics, regulatory considerations, and potential public-private partnership models. The parties will also explore opportunities for a future flight demonstration using Electra’s existing EL2 technology demonstrator, subject to future agreements and approvals. The study is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
Electra will assess high-level sizing, design requirements, and rough-order-of-magnitude costs for an Ultra Short access point for candidate sites designated by the City of Helsinki. Haaga-Helia and the City of Helsinki will evaluate passenger demand, including existing travel flows by air and ferry, opportunities for demand stimulation through faster air service, and how demand could vary by time of day, day of week, season, and ticket price.
“The third era of aviation is about what electrification makes possible,” said Marc Allen, CEO of Electra. “For Electra, that means aircraft that can operate from smaller places, connect more communities, and make regional travel dramatically easier. The Gulf of Finland is exactly the kind of real-world market where that promise can be studied, understood, and made real.”
The parties will use the findings to inform a roadmap for establishing Ultra Short access infrastructure in Helsinki and identifying viable commercial models for initial service.
