Surf Air
Electrifying the skies for sustainable, on-demand air travel
Building a future where hybrid engines make flying the most sustainable and convenient way to travel.
Founders
Sudhin Shahani, CEO
Liam Fayed, CBO
Liam Fayed, CBO
Founded
2013
Location
Los Angeles, USA
Backstory
Surf Air is on a mission to make regional air travel more convenient, affordable, and sustainable. Members of the Surf Air network have exclusive access to both scheduled flights and on-demand charter services, using small, local terminals that enable passengers to skip crowded airports and long lines. Best of all, Surf Air is developing hybrid electric aircraft to fly those routes, significantly reducing the environmental footprint of air travel.
In February 2021, Surf Air announced that it would be acquiring aviation technology pioneer Ampaire, maker of a hybrid electric powertrain. In July 2021, Surf Air entered into a partnership with Textron Aviation to electrify the Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft, targeted to be available in 2024. Through this exclusive agreement, Surf Air Mobility plans to make electrified aircraft broadly available to new and existing operators, and bring the benefits of lower cost, lower-mission air travel to customers sooner and at scale.
In February 2021, Surf Air announced that it would be acquiring aviation technology pioneer Ampaire, maker of a hybrid electric powertrain. In July 2021, Surf Air entered into a partnership with Textron Aviation to electrify the Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft, targeted to be available in 2024. Through this exclusive agreement, Surf Air Mobility plans to make electrified aircraft broadly available to new and existing operators, and bring the benefits of lower cost, lower-mission air travel to customers sooner and at scale.
Why we invested
We were introduced to founder and CEO Sudhin Shahani by a mutual friend, and immediately fell in love with his vision to make flying more sustainable. In the same way that we started with hybrid cars before going fully electric, Surf Air’s strategy for transitioning to hybrid-powered planes is the future of air travel. The subscription-based business model is also very interesting, with major growth potential.
