Surf Air Mobility Partners with Textron Aviation for Electric Aircraft

Surf Air Mobility Confirms Order for 100 Aircraft and Exclusive Relationship with Textron
Aviation to Support Surf Air Mobility’s Development of an Electrified Cessna Grand
Caravan EX
● Surf Air Mobility Pays Deposit for first 20 Aircraft with Deliveries beginning in the first half
of 2024
● Surf Air Mobility Confirms Previously Announced Initial Fleet Order of 100 Cessna Grand
Caravan EX aircraft, with Option for 50 More
● Collaboration Between Surf Air Mobility and Textron Aviation Accelerates the Path to
Both Electric and Turbine-Hybrid Electric Commercial Air Travel
LOS ANGELES — September 26, 2023 — Surf Air Mobility Inc. (NYSE: SRFM) (“Surf Air
Mobility” or “SAM”), a regional air mobility platform aiming to sustainably connect the world’s
communities, confirmed its exclusive relationship with Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc.
(NYSE:TXT) company, upon the completion of its public market debut. Today the company
announced that deliveries of the first 20 Cessna Grand Caravan EX aircraft are expected to
begin in the first half of 2024. This exclusive relationship supports Surf Air Mobility’s
development of an electrified Cessna Grand Caravan EX, targeting FAA certification in 2026.
Surf Air Mobility has agreed to purchase up to 150 Cessna Grand Caravan EX aircraft, with a
confirmed initial fleet order of 100 aircraft and an option for 50 more. The aircraft will be
upgraded to Surf Air Mobility’s proprietary electric or hybrid-electric powertrain technology by
Surf Air Mobility.
Through this exclusive agreement, Surf Air Mobility plans to make electrified aircraft broadly
available to new and existing operators, and to bring the benefits of lower cost, lower emission
air travel at scale to customers. Surf Air Mobility will also be the exclusive provider to Textron
Aviation of certain battery electric and hybrid electric powertrain technology for the Cessna
Grand Caravan.
“We know from our experience that people are looking for faster, affordable, and cleaner
regional travel, and we are building the ecosystem to accelerate the industry’s adoption of
electric flight. We believe that significantly reducing the emissions from this category of aircraft
will be the biggest step we can take toward de-carbonization in this decade,” said Sudhin
Shahani, co-founder of Surf Air Mobility.
Surf Air Mobility’s vision is to utilize both an electric and hybrid-electric Cessna Grand Caravan
across its network, connecting more airports with short-haul direct service while also building a
regional mass transport platform to sustainably connect communities across North America.
“We are excited to see Surf Air’s progress in expanding their fleet with deliveries expected to
begin early next year,” said Lannie O’Bannion, senior vice president, Textron Aviation Global
Sales and Flight Operations. “The Cessna Caravan’s adaptability for passenger and cargo
operations makes it an ideal platform for hybrid electric and electric propulsion innovations. This
exclusive relationship is a demonstration of Textron Aviation’s commitment to the future of
sustainable flight.”
“We are very proud of our relationship with Textron Aviation and excited to expand our growing
network with this fleet order,” said Jamie Strecker, head of Business Development for Surf Air
Mobility. “This order brings us closer to our ultimate goal to electrify our entire fleet and bring the
world a more sustainable way to fly.”
Planned benefits of the new electrified architecture include:
● Reducing direct operating costs by 25-50% and direct carbon emissions by up to 50-
100% while providing similar performance as the current models
● The aircraft should be immediately operable at more than 5,000 public use airports
across the U.S. with no charging stations required for the hybrid-electric powertrain
iterations
● Reducing the environmental impact of flying and paving the way for future generations of
even more sustainable aircraft
● Enhancing the ability for a new point-to-point route network that makes direct flights
more affordable and more accessible for more people in more places
● Opening the ability for more Cessna Grand Caravan owners and operators to upgrade to
the electric or hybrid powertrains