Manassas-based Electra announced Tuesday it will build its first production facility for the EL9 Ultra Short hybrid-electric aircraft in Springfield, Ohio, not Virginia.
The $850 million project is expected to create 1,975 jobs at a new 96-acre site next to Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport. The nine-passenger plane is designed to take off and land in as little as 150 feet and is aimed at a new market Electra calls Direct Aviation.
Electra, founded in 2020 and headquartered at Manassas Regional Airport, will keep operating parts of its business from its existing Virginia facilities. The company evaluated more than 140 sites over the past year. When asked whether Manassas was among the finalists, Electra declined to say.
Key details from the announcement:
- Construction is set to begin next year, with initial capacity for up to 400 aircraft a year and a later phase targeting 800.
- Ohio ranked No. 1 and Virginia No. 3 on CNBC’s 2026 Top States for Business list, released earlier this month.
- The decision comes as Virginia ranks 48th in the nation for job growth over the past year and has lost more jobs than any other state, according to a July 15 Cardinal News analysis of federal data. Read the Cardinal News article.
The company cited Ohio’s aerospace cluster, skilled workforce, and ready infrastructure near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as major factors. Specific details on how Virginia incentives compared, or why the production work did not stay closer to the Manassas headquarters, were not released.
Full Press Release:
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — July 21, 2026 — Electra today announced plans to establish its first production facility for the EL9 Ultra Short in the City of Springfield, within Clark County, a major milestone that will bring its nine-passenger hybrid-electric aircraft from development into scaled commercial production.
The $850 million investment will create 1,975 new jobs, anchor production of the EL9 Ultra Short, and help meet demand for Direct Aviation, a new category of accessible, point-to-point air mobility. The EL9 Ultra Short is a nine-passenger fixed-wing aircraft that uses hybrid-electric propulsion and blown-lift technology to take off and land in as little as 150 feet. The new facility will be located at AirPark Ohio, adjacent to Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport.
“Electra is opening a new era of aviation, one where flight is direct, accessible, and closer to the communities it serves,” said Marc Allen, CEO of Electra. “This agreement is the moment that our vision moves from demonstration into reality. In Springfield and Clark County, we found the rare combination this next era requires: a ready site, a skilled workforce, a deep aerospace and defense ecosystem, and state and local leaders with the commitment and vision to build it with us. We are grateful to the City of Springfield, Clark County, and the State of Ohio for welcoming Electra into this community as we prepare to bring the EL9 Ultra Short into production, through certification, and ultimately into service.”
The production facility will ensure Electra remains at the forefront of American global leadership in hybrid-electric aviation, with the EL9 Ultra Short unlocking new markets for commercial advanced air mobility, military logistics, and humanitarian applications. The decision to build in Springfield is a bet on reindustrializing America’s capacity to manufacture next-generation aircraft at scale in the Birthplace of Aviation.
“Ohio is where flight began, and the Dayton-Springfield area has become the national epicenter for advanced air mobility – the place where the next generation of aircraft is being designed, tested, and now built at scale,” said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. “Electra’s decision to bring nearly 2,000 new jobs to Springfield will be transformative for Clark County, demonstrating Ohio’s unique ability to lead America into aviation’s next era.”
Electra selected the site following a year-long competitive national site-selection process that evaluated more than 140 potential locations. Criteria included workforce availability, infrastructure readiness, long-term expansion capacity, state and local partnership, incentives, and proximity to the aerospace, defense, and advanced manufacturing talent needed to support EL9 Ultra Short production.
The new 96-acre facility will house production of the EL9 Ultra Short. The initial phase of development will start immediately with design, while construction of the facility will begin next year. The initial phase will support capacity for up to 400 aircraft per year. A second phase of development will expand capacity to up to 800 aircraft per year.
The company chose the Dayton-Springfield region because it offers advanced air mobility (AAM) companies a combination of assets found nowhere else in the country. Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport is home to the National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence (NAAMCE) and SkyVision, the FAA-approved ground-based detect-and-avoid system that enables beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flight testing in unrestricted airspace, which allows companies to move from concept to flight test faster than anywhere else in the nation. That infrastructure is complemented by growing AAM production near Dayton International Airport and the region’s proximity to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), which together form one of the deepest concentrations of aerospace R&D talent in the world.
“JobsOhio and our partners at the Dayton Development Coalition are proud to welcome Electra’s first point-to-point hybrid-electric aircraft production facility to Ohio,” said JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef. “This investment builds on years of collaboration to establish Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport as a national hub for advanced air mobility. Here, Electra will have direct access to the nation’s premier AAM testing infrastructure, a proven aerospace workforce, a deep manufacturing supply chain and the unmatched research capabilities of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base—an ideal environment to innovate, scale and grow for decades to come.”
Electra’s investment will be supported by state and local incentives tied to job creation, workforce development, infrastructure readiness, and long-term manufacturing growth. An incentive package is being designed to support hundreds of new Ohio jobs over the coming years as Electra scales production in the region. The project will pursue a Job Creation Tax Credit from the Ohio Department of Development at a future Tax Credit Authority meeting. JobsOhio also plans to provide assistance with the project, which will be made public after a final agreement is executed.
The EL9 Ultra Short is designed to unlock Direct Aviation, a new category of air travel that connects people and places directly through point-to-point mobility using novel access points such as parking lots, barges, and sports fields. The aircraft is designed around Electra’s Rule of Six: access, quiet operations, payload, range, safety, and affordability. In 2025, the company secured $115 million in Series B funding to support pre-production and certification of the EL9 Ultra Short, led by Prysm Capital.
“This is a landmark moment for Electra and for aviation,” said Jay Park, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Prysm Capital. “Building a new category of aircraft takes conviction at every step, and the Electra team has delivered on each one. We’re proud to be their partner as the EL9 goes from proving what’s possible to producing it.”
In May, Electra released the Direct Aviation Market Outlook, a nationwide analysis of U.S.-based travel. At the heart of this market are trips between 50 and 250 flying miles, where demand is both concentrated and largely unserved by existing aviation. Electra’s analysis found that meeting this demand will require between 12,000 and 16,000 aircraft between 2030 and 2040.
This announcement follows Electra and Safran Helicopter Engines’ life-of-program agreement to develop and produce the TG600 turbogenerator that will power the EL9 Ultra Short. The agreement includes an initial order for 250 units and establishes Safran’s TG600 as the core of the EL9’s hybrid-electric propulsion system.
Earlier this year, Electra and Bristow Group Inc. announced a Pre-Delivery Payment agreement with non-refundable deposits and binding terms and conditions aligned to commercial aviation industry standards, subject to aircraft certification, securing the first delivery slot for the EL9 Ultra Short hybrid-electric aircraft with the TG600.
Electra has also submitted the EL9 Ultra Short aircraft to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for Part 23 type certification and anticipates a first flight scheduled for late 2027 or early 2028. The FAA recently closed the G-1 Issue Paper, formally establishing the certification basis for Electra’s EL9 Ultra Short aircraft and advancing the company toward the next phase of type certification.
“The first era of aviation began right here in the greater Dayton region,” Allen said. “It is fitting that aviation’s next era will be built here too — in Springfield and Clark County — where Electra will produce groundbreaking aircraft designed to transform the way people travel.”
Electra will also continue to operate parts of its business from its Manassas, Virginia facilities. Together, the two campuses will give Electra the structure, talent, and operating model needed to fuel its next chapter of growth. To learn more, visit electra.aero/ohiojobs.
About Electra
Electra.aero, Inc. (Electra) is an advanced air mobility (AAM) company building hybrid-electric Ultra Short airplanes that deliver unprecedented performance advantages to fly people and cargo seamlessly without airports, emissions, or noise. With the EL9 Ultra Short, Electra is pioneering Direct Aviation, the next level of connectivity that brings air travel closer to where we live, work, and play. Electra’s Ultra Short technology delivers 2.5x the payload and 10x longer range with 70% lower operating costs than helicopters and eVTOLs with significantly greater safety and far less certification risk.
