Partnerships help to enable Safarilink and
Yellow Wings’ goal of becoming all-electric in 2027 and to advance
air travel sustainability within Africa, a leader in the regional
air mobility market
Surf Air Mobility Inc. (NYSE: SRFM), the air mobility platform
transforming regional flying through electrification, has entered
into agreements with Safarilink, an airline connecting domestic
scheduled flights to destinations within Kenya and Tanzania, and
Yellow Wings Air Services Ltd., a Kenyan air operator that serves
over 500 airfields throughout the East Africa region, to upgrade
their Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft with Surf Air Mobility’s
proprietary electrified powertrain technology once certified. This
partnership marks another milestone as Surf Air Mobility seeks to
expand its global footprint while leading the energy transition to
electrified, green aviation. As the exclusive partner to Textron to
electrify the Caravan, Surf Air Mobility is focused on building its
business in regions around the world, such as Africa, that are
already significant markets for that airframe and where
transportation providers are quickly adopting innovative mobility
solutions.
Surf Air is developing the Supplemental Type Certification for
both hybrid and fully-electric variants of the Cessna Grand
Caravan. With target reductions of up to 50% direct operating costs
and 100% in carbon emissions for the fully-electric powertrain,
Surf Air believes the impact it will have for other operators
around the world can revolutionize the aviation landscape.
“The Caravan is an amazing aircraft on which to develop our
electrified powertrain, and we believe Safarilink and Yellow Wings’
operations are perfectly suited to demonstrate the benefits of our
technology,” said Stan Little, CEO of Surf Air Mobility. “We
believe Africa is at the cutting edge of regional air mobility.
Surf Air is excited to work with innovative, pioneering companies
like Safarilink and Yellow Wings.”
“Our goal is to deploy our proprietary electrification
technology on a global scale, in addition to our own network,” said
Fred Reid, Global Head of Business Development for Surf Air
Mobility. “Upgrading Safarilink’s and Yellow Wings' Caravan fleet
with our electrified powertrains unlocks new possibilities. As air
travel economics change with electrification, we believe Safarilink
and Yellow Wings can improve current services, launch new viable
routes, and reduce environmental impact.”
This agreement helps to showcase Safarilink and Yellow Wings as
pioneers in adopting the technologies necessary for a greener and
quieter (crucial for Kenyan wildlife) future in transportation. It
also aligns with the Kenyan government’s recent announcement to
completely move away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy
sources by 2030. Both Safarilink and Yellow Wings are already
focused on sustainability and wildlife conservation efforts,
however the companies believe the move to electrified aircraft will
drive sustainability even further while setting the stage for
global transformation.
“We at Safarilink are committed to doing everything possible to
preserve the natural beauty of the countries we operate in,” said
Alex Avedi, CEO of Safarilink. “Implementing Surf Air Mobility’s
electric powertrain technology will help us reduce the noise and
minimize the climate impact of our flights as we help people from
all over the world to experience our region’s incredible
ecosystem.
“We strongly believe in alternative propulsion for air travel.
We have always been the frontrunners in adopting new systems and
innovations. Kenya, with 91% carbon free power generation is the
ideal country to spearhead this movement,” said Christian Strebel,
CEO of Yellow Wings.
The companies are excited about the potential to transform
regional aviation within Kenya and East Africa by demonstrating the
viability and impact that electrified Caravans will have on the
industry.
About Surf Air Mobility
Surf Air Mobility is a Los Angeles-based regional air mobility
platform expanding the category of regional air travel to reinvent
flying through the power of electrification. In an effort to
substantially reduce the cost and environmental impact of flying
and as the operator of the largest commuter airline in the US, Surf
Air Mobility intends to develop powertrain technology with its
commercial partners to electrify existing fleets and bring
electrified aircraft to market at scale. The management team has
deep experience and expertise across aviation, electrification, and
consumer technology.
About Safarilink
Safarilink is Kenya's premier safari airline with a network of
charter and connecting domestic scheduled services to all the best
safari destinations within Kenya and across the border into
northern Tanzania. Safarilink was formed in January 2004 by a
management team who together had more than 40 years experience in
providing tourist related air services in East Africa. This
professional quality specialist airline now operates 12 aircraft –
ranging in size from 13 to 52 seats – that are chosen to meet the
specific requirements of operating into bush airstrips within
Kenya's world famous game parks. Safarilink is Kenya’s 3rd largest
airline after Kenya Airways and JamboJet and the largest carrier
out of Wilson airport, its home base. The company provides daily
scheduled services to 17 destinations and during the busiest
periods of the year carries over 30,000 passengers per month.
Safarilink currently employs 300 staff of whom 50 are pilots.
Safarilink is a member of the Kenya Association of Air
Operators.
About Yellow Wings
Yellow Wings is a privately-owned air charter service
transporting tourists and business passengers to various
destinations around East Africa. Yellow Wings is fully licensed in
Kenya and is able to operate nationally to over 500 airfields
including the Turkana and Samburu region and internationally within
Continental Africa, Middle East, and Asia. Yellow Wings saves
travelers more time and by bypassing big airports with inflexible
authorities and tedious immigration and customs procedures.
Forward Looking Statements
The information in this press release includes “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements include, among
other things, statements about Surf Air Mobility’s ability to
anticipate the future needs of the air mobility market, and future
trends in the aviation industry, generally. In some cases, you can
identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may”,
“should”, “could”, “might”, “plan”, “possible”, “project”,
“strive”, “budget”, “forecast”, “expect”, “intend”, “will”,
“estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “predict”, “potential” or
“continue”, or the negatives of these terms or variations of them
or similar terminology. Factors that may cause actual results to
differ materially from current expectations include, but are not
limited to: Surf Air Mobility’s limited operating history and that
Surf Air Mobility has not yet manufactured any hybrid-electric or
fully-electric aircraft; the powertrain technology Surf Air
Mobility plans to develop does not yet exist; any accidents or
incidents involving hybrid-electric or fully-electric aircraft; the
inability to accurately forecast demand for products and manage
product inventory in an effective and efficient manner; the
dependence on third-party partners and suppliers for the components
and collaboration in Surf Air Mobility’s development of
hybrid-electric and fully-electric powertrains, and any
interruptions, disagreements or delays with those partners and
suppliers; the inability to execute business objectives and growth
strategies successfully or sustain Surf Air Mobility’s growth; the
inability of Surf Air Mobility to obtain additional financing or
access the capital markets to fund its ongoing operations on
acceptable terms and conditions; changes in applicable laws or
regulations, and the impact of the regulatory environment and
complexities with compliance related to such environment.
Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates
of management at the date the statements are made and are subject
to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that
could cause actual events or results to differ materially from
those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Although Surf
Air Mobility believes that the expectations reflected in the
forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no
assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Surf Air
Mobility cannot guarantee future results, level of activity,
performance or achievements and there is no representation that the
actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as
those set out in the forward-looking statements and financial
projections. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date
they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, and Surf Air Mobility does not
undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise, except as required by law. Additional information
regarding these and other factors that could affect Surf Air
Mobility’s results is included in Surf Air Mobility’s SEC filings,
which may be obtained by visiting the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov
or the investor relations page at https://investors.surfair.com
under the “Financials—SEC Filings” section. Information contained
on, or that is referenced or can be accessed through, our website
does not constitute part of this document and inclusions of any
website addresses herein are inactive textual references only.
The SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or the investor relations page
on Surf Air’s website at https://investors.surfair.com under the
“Financials—SEC Filings” section. Other information contained on,
or that is referenced or can be accessed through, our website does
not constitute part of this document and inclusions of any website
addresses herein are inactive textual references only.
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Media Contacts Surf Air Mobility: press@surfair.com
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