Electra has expanded its headquarters in Manassas, Virginia, and its R&D centre in Bleienbach, Switzerland, to support growth and development of its nine-passenger hybrid-electric EL9 Ultra Short aircraft.

At Manassas Regional Airport, the company has opened a 15,000-square-foot hangar and a 6,000-square-foot office space, adding to its existing 36,000-square-foot headquarters facility. The expanded site will house development and engineering teams. Electra has already more than doubled its workforce in 2025 and intends to add dozens more engineers over the next year.

In Europe, the company has grown its Bleienbach site to nearly 2,000 square feet. The facility is intended to attract engineering talent and strengthen the company’s international innovation efforts.

“Electra is on a mission to transform aviation, and expanding our facilities ensures we can continue attracting the world-class engineering talent to design, develop, and commercialize our groundbreaking EL9,” says Marc Allen, CEO of Electra. “We’re giving our teams the resources they need to get our Ultra Short aircraft into the hands of our customers and deliver on the promise of Direct Aviation, making regional air travel more convenient, affordable, and sustainable.”

Electra’s EL9 is designed to take off and land in as little as 150 feet, made possible through hybrid-electric propulsion and blown-lift aerodynamics. This capability enables operations at small airports or unconventional sites including parking lots and fields, creating opportunities to connect people and places directly while reducing noise, emissions, and travel time.

The company has been validating the approach with nearly two years of successful flight demonstrations of its two-seat EL2 prototype at locations ranging from Virginia Tech and Watertown International Airport to military exercises with the US Air Force Research Laboratory at Griffiss International Airport.

Flight testing of the EL9 is planned for 2027, with FAA certification credit flights in 2028 and 2029, and service entry in 2029 into 2030. Electra has accumulated more than 2,200 provisional orders from over 60 customers worldwide, representing over $13 billion in potential value.