‘Our SkyBus is an ideal proposition for connecting Twente Airport in the Netherlands with various European urban regions within a 1,000 km radius,’ stresses LYTE Aviation founder and CEO Freshta Farzam.  ‘It will provide a convenient, affordable, sustainable and much faster transport option for employees who regularly travel between locations: it will connect the Twente region with Paris, Birmingham, Munich or Hamburg, allowing Twente-based companies to reach their respective headquarters, European counterparts and colleagues in less than two hours, instead of the current up to eight hours total travel time (including car, train, bus and/or taxi travel time to and from an international airport. In this way, we even shake up business aviation, as we are the only ones who can transport up to 40 employees vertically in just one SkyBus. And we don't need runways, just a runway of about 40m x 40m. With all the surrounding companies in the area, such as Thales, Sensata Technologies, Malvern PANAlytical and VDL, Twente Airport is ideally positioned for our pilot project. We have chosen to design an alternative to the normal regional air route by creating two new efficient connection points between the Dutch regional airport Twente Airport and a new vertiport right on a company's doorstep! We are bringing the future to your doorstep!’ adds Freshta.
 
LYTE Aviation is pioneering the industry's first 40-seat eVTOL, a heavy passenger mass transport aircraft called SkyBus LA-44.  The company is also designing a cargo variant, the SkyTruck LA-44C, with a payload of 4.5 tonnes. 
 
The aircraft is designed to be five times more fuel efficient than a helicopter, 10 times less noisy than a helicopter and have significantly lower MRO costs.  With its tandem tilt-wing technology, power is provided by hybrid hydrogen-electric turboprops and electric motors. ‘The SkyBus is an ideal solution to expand current regional aviation solutions for passenger mass and cargo transport in the near future,’ Freshta added.
 
Using proven and existing technologies available today, LYTE Aviation estimates it will enter the market within five to six years. UK-based LYTE Aviation is pleased to have entered into a partnership with Twente Airport.

Twente Airport aims to accelerate access to these new technologies by embracing the potential of Regional Air Mobility and facilitating achievable and realistic targets. The airport offers space and facilities to new and established sustainable aviation companies that want to test aircraft, systems and procedures. Twente Airport is a testing ground for sustainable aviation and new forms of mobility.
 
‘Our core values are to create solutions that benefit our total environment (climate, humanity and economy) in the most feasible and strategic ways. The mindset and values of Twente Airport's management team are so open and transparent and they see starting points to ‘redefine’ regional aviation together with us. That's why we decided to start this research project with the Twente Airport team; it's a perfect match. The work they do is highly appreciated’ said Freshta Farzam.

Jan Schuring, CEO of Twente Airport added: ‘The aviation industry is going through a number of revolutions that will fundamentally change the way we travel in the future. Our facilities are available as a testing ground for the innovations of next-generation aircraft, systems and procedures. LYTE Aviation is a perfect example of a company looking to break the status quo and we are keen to help them in this challenge.’