The company showcased its Sirius CEO-Jet and Sirius Adventure Jet—the initial entrants into what it claims will be the first family of hydrogen-powered, zero-emission, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capable aircraft—on Thursday at the Move Expo in London.

The models will be powered by a hydrogen-electric powertrain and fuel tank—a propulsion system designed to extend flight time compared to fully electric models. Similar to the Lilium Jet, the aircraft will feature electric ducted fans embedded in fixed wings and canards to provide vertical lift.

Both the CEO-Jet and Adventure Jet are expected to emit less than 60 dBA of noise at a distance of 100 meters—about the volume of a typical conversation—using what Sirius describes as a “deflected vectored thrust” propulsion system. The company claims they will reduce noise by about 95 percent compared to helicopters.

The CEO-Jet, designed to seat three passengers, will serve the private business aviation segment, combining zero-emission flight with luxurious, customizable amenities.

The Adventure Jet, on the other hand, is designed primarily for passenger and cargo transport but can also handle medical evacuations, search and rescue, firefighting, surveillance, and offshore operations. It seats up to two pilots and as many as five passengers, with a maximum takeoff weight of about 7,700 pounds, handling point-to-point trips to remote destinations such as jungles or mountaintops. It will even have an inflatable pontoon, allowing it to glide over water.

The latter design comes equipped with GPS, Doppler radar, very high frequency (VHF) and ultra high frequency (UHF) radio, and a digital autopilot system capable of hover and approach.

“The CEO-JET offers an eco-friendly option for business travel, while the Adventure Jet opens new horizons for global tourism and exploration,” said Alexey Popov, CEO of Sirius.

Founded in 2021, Sirius set out to design an aircraft that could combine the aerodynamics of an airplane with the versatility of a helicopter. The concept for a family of hydrogen-powered business jets first emerged in January, and the company shared more information in the weeks leading up to Move Expo.

The Sirius Jet’s calling card is its propulsion system—a hydrogen-electric powertrain that energizes 28 electric ducted fans, 20 embedded in the wings and eight mounted in the canard. Together with a pressurized cabin, these fans are designed to help the aircraft reach an altitude of 30,000 feet.

The fans are linked individually to one of 28 electric motors, each weighing about 21 pounds and containing a proprietary thermal management system. Air drawn through the jet’s intake passes through a cooling system and into onboard liquid hydrogen tanks. It is then channeled to a fuel cell stack, which has a high weight-to-power density ratio ideal for storing hydrogen.

Within the fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen react to create water and electricity, the latter of which is directed to a set of battery packs that power the electric motors. The packs recharge during flight, are active for only 90 seconds per flight cycle, and do not need to be replaced, Sirius says. Water, a byproduct, is released through the exhaust valve.

By Sirius’ estimate, it would cost only $500 to fully refill the fuel tank. The company further claims the propulsion system makes its aircraft more efficient than electric VTOL (eVTOL) counterparts.

The Lilium Jet, for example, has a range of about 155 sm (135 nm); the Sirius CEO-Jet will max out at around 1,150 sm (1,000 nm), while the Adventure Jet can reach that range using its additional fuel tanks. Further, the CEO-Jet’s cruise speed and Adventure Jet’s top speed—323 mph (280 knots)—is more than double the Lilium Jet’s (155 mph, or 135 knots).

A potential CEO-Jet network in the U.S. could encompass New York City, Chicago, Kansas City, Missouri, New Orleans, and Miami. The Adventure Jet, meanwhile, could connect San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Phoenix. According to Sirius, the network would offer “a 4-[time] improvement in travel efficiency compared to conventional methods” such as car or traditional airplane.

At the same time, the hydrogen-powered aircraft are billed as offering the luxury of a conventional business jet. Customers have the option, for example, to customize interior colors, upholstery, amenities—including champagne fridges, custom bathrooms, art installations, and kitchens—lighting, and flooring materials such as marble, hardwood, or carpet. Passengers can even pick the scent they smell when they enter the aircraft.

Both models are equipped with an airframe parachute system that deploys automatically in case of emergency, which Sirius claims reduces risk to “virtually zero.”

Sirius hopes to set up serial manufacturing and obtain certification for the Sirius Jet family before 2028. Next year, it expects to complete an inaugural flight using a demonstration plane and open sales of 50 business jets, with deliveries beginning in 2028. By the end of the decade, it intends to launch a shuttle network across the Americas, European Union, and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

So far, Sirius has received an order from Indian seaplane operator Mehair for 50 Adventure Jets plus 50 options, with another from Indonesian tourism firm Parq Development for five CEO-Jets and Adventure Jets apiece.

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According to the space agency, “several” eVTOL companies are deploying a NASA computer program to model their future operations and the noise they will produce. The program, called Overflow, was developed in the 1990s. But NASA tells FLYING it has made “significant improvements” to its code to improve its usefulness for the industry. The code is publicly available for download.

Manufacturers developing technology related to NASA’s Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Mission—which explores passenger transport, cargo delivery, public service, and other applications for eVTOL designs—are being granted an early look at how their propellers, wings, and other components may perform in action.

Per the agency, the technology can save these manufacturers time and money when making decisions related to aircraft design.

Overflow is a NASA-developed computer software tool that predicts aircraft noise and aerodynamic performance. Using a series of calculations, the program models the flow of air around an aircraft, anticipating the pressures, forces, moments, and power requirements it might produce.

Users can integrate the Overflow code into their own aircraft modeling programs to measure performance and efficiency. They receive a visual depiction of how air behaves on or around the aircraft, represented by different colors. A high pressure coefficient, for example, might be shown in red, while a lower coefficient is represented by blue.

As NASA points out, fluid flows are one of the culprits of aircraft noise. Understanding how those flows interact with the airframe can help engineers make design decisions that keep volume in check.

Supporters and detractors of eVTOL air taxis consider noise pollution a chief concern, particularly when operations take place over an urban area such as a city. Manufacturers such as Archer and Joby—whose designs combine movable propellers with fixed wings—contend their designs will be quieter than helicopters.

According to images shared by NASA, Archer and Joby each have given Overflow a try. Notably, both companies have a prior relationship with the agency.

Joby in December collaborated with NASA and a recruited cohort of air traffic controllers to model air taxi operations around a busy airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International (KDFW). Air taxi pilots “flew” on predetermined routes in various simulated weather conditions, evaluating traffic schedules developed by Joby based on the manufacturer’s demand projections.

The partners successfully simulated 120 eVTOL arrivals and departures alongside existing airport traffic. According to NASA, certain air traffic control procedures evaluated could be applied and scaled at airports nationwide to accommodate eVTOL aircraft.

Archer, meanwhile, continues to collaborate with NASA on a battery testing partnership. The partners are evaluating the manufacturer’s proprietary batteries to gauge how they could safely be applied to eVTOL aircraft, eCTOL aircraft such as Beta Technologies’ CX300, and potentially even spacecraft. Archer last month completed a critical battery pack drop test, intended to assess the batteries’ resistance to leaks or fires in the event of a crash.

In addition to Archer and Joby, Wisk Aero, the eVTOL air taxi subsidiary of Boeing, appears to be using Overflow as NASA shared an image of what looks to be the company’s Generation 6 aircraft. Archer, Joby, and Wisk are among the top U.S. firms in the AAM industry.

NASA—which is also working with the U.S. Air Force to build a nationwide AAM operations center—the Department of Defense, and FAA have each emphasized growing the country’s emerging aircraft technology in a bid to foster the domestic AAM industry. U.S. agencies and representatives have sounded the alarm on manufacturers in China in particular, fearing that a wave of cheap, mass-produced Chinese aircraft could shut out American competitors.

Those fears may not be entirely unfounded, given that Chinese air taxi manufacturer EHang just received approval from the country’s civil aviation authority (CAAC) to begin mass production. Recently, the company revealed its self-flying eVTOL will have a price tag of just $330,000. Few eVTOL manufacturers are public about the cost of their aircraft, but internal projections typically have been in the millions—not the hundreds of thousands.

Having obtained production, type, and standard airworthiness certification for its flagship EH216-S, EHang is the only eVTOL manufacturer with all three approvals. In the U.S., Archer and Joby are the furthest along, targeting type certification before their expected commercial launches in 2025.

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FLASH—which stands for Fuel Additives for Solid Hydrogen Carriers in Electric Aviation—is the DOE’s latest hydrogen-related initiative. The project will see the department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and aerospace and defense titan Honeywell collaborate on a prototype hydrogen fuel storage system for long-range drones.

But while most hydrogen fuel is stored as a gas or liquid, the partners are eyeing a mechanism to store solid hydrogen. The material could be quickly burned off to produce the element’s gaseous form, allowing uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) fuel cells to convert it to electric power.

The yearlong collaboration is expected to result in the development of a hydrogen fuel cartridge, which Honeywell could deploy on its application platforms. The company develops other solid-state cartridge systems for UAVs, but it’ll look to boost their performance through low-temperature, fast-release technology from FLASH.

Honeywell will provide technological expertise, fuel cartridge testing, supply chain support, and fuel cell prototyping and evaluation for the project. NREL in FLASH’s first phase “will provide technical expertise on FLASH formulations, fabrication, and characterization of the hydrogen fuel storage.”

The project’s ultimate goal is to mature new hydrogen carrier tech within the DOE Energy Materials Network’s Hydrogen Materials Advanced Research Consortium (HyMARC) project. HyMARC is focused specifically on providing clean, affordable hydrogen.

“This is a dream project for a national lab researcher,” said Steve Christensen, one of the NREL leads on the project proposal. “Honeywell has already built and tested devices that can use our materials, giving us the chance to drop our technology directly into their systems and move this promising drone fuel toward commercialization through collaborative research and development.”

Christensen added that the DOE hopes the technologies developed through FLASH “result in a market application.”

The initiative is funded by NREL, Honeywell, and the DOE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office through the Technology Commercialization Fund. The fund is strapped with $62 billion in allocations through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and supports a range of clean energy projects.

FLASH specifically is focused on developing a solid substance that could release hydrogen gas. NREL and Honeywell said the material has a high hydrogen capacity and can be operated at low temperatures. The idea is to provide a continuous supply of hydrogen that can be converted to electricity to enable low-noise, zero-emission, long-range flights.

“This class of materials is remarkably tunable and therefore highly versatile to industrial hydrogen delivery requirements,” said Noemi Leick, NREL’s principal investigator on the project.

The partners are looking to apply the tech on long-range and heavy payload UAVs in particular. These are mostly powered by internal combustion engines, which create more noise and emissions than electric propulsion. And when electric batteries are used, they can limit the drone’s range because they must be charged frequently.

Honeywell pointed out that hydrogen today is largely stored in bulky, compressed gas tanks, which are difficult to install on a compact drone. NREL added that the FLASH fuel storage system and a fuel cell could be bundled into a single, swappable cartridge—much like the electric battery cartridges many UAV operators are used to.

“Today’s long-range drones are typically powered by internal combustion engines,” said Katherine Hurst, NREL senior scientist and group manager. “While they provide the required range that battery-powered electric UAVs lack, these engines have issues with excessive noise, vibration, and emissions, including carbon emissions. This is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate the performance of hydrogen storage materials that we developed in our laboratory together with Honeywell to fuel a real-life flying vehicle.”

The partners pointed to atmospheric monitoring—which can be inhibited by the exhaust gases and rumbling engines of UAVs—as a potential new use case for FLASH technology. They also floated inspections of electric power lines, gas pipelines, solar panel farms, wind turbines, and other long-range applications as potential opportunities. In particular, long-range, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) missions could lower operating costs for service providers.

“Hydrogen can offer significant advantages for electric vertical take-off and landing [eVTOL] systems in terms of endurance and range,” said Dave Shilliday, vice president and general manager of urban air mobility and uncrewed aerial systems at Honeywell Aerospace. “Additionally, using hydrogen as a power source can also significantly expand the possibilities of UAVs beyond the limitations posed by battery-electric powertrains. Honeywell will work with NREL to develop the necessary hydrogen-related technology to contribute to the further growth of the industry.”

As things stand, the FLASH solution is projected to operate as a one-way fuel that must be recycled or refilled once spent. However, a project within NREL’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development program is exploring ways to recycle hydrogen fuel using electrochemical processes, which could one day allow UAVs to be powered by renewable energy.

If the project is deemed a success, FLASH “will be qualified for future technological development in optimization, scaling, and cost reduction,” NREL said. The laboratory also filed a nonprovisional patent application for FLASH tech, which laid the foundation to allow Honeywell Aerospace to continue developing it for commercial deployment.

It’s unclear whether Honeywell or NREL will explore hydrogen fuel storage systems for crewed electric aircraft as well. But it’s worth noting the former recently agreed to install flight control systems for electric aircraft maker Heart Aerospace and has partnerships with several manned eVTOL manufacturers—including Archer Aviation, Lilium, Vertical Aerospace, and Pipistrel—through its urban air mobility business.

NREL, meanwhile, just partnered with Joby Aviation to research the environmental impact of its air taxi, signaling potential interest in exploring hydrogen for crewed electric aircraft. The lab is also committed to researching hydrogen storage and fuel more generally, positioning it as a potential player as the aviation industry works to meet long-term sustainability goals.

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Whisper on Monday held a ceremony to introduce its new flight test center in Crossville, an 8,000-square-foot hangar backed by a $1.2 million appropriation from the state of Tennessee. Construction on the facility, co-located at Crossville Memorial Airport (KCSV), is expected to begin later this year and be completed by early next year.

“Crossville Memorial Airport—it’s not just an airport,” said Ian Villa, co-founder and COO of Whisper. “This is really where we started a lot of the testing for our technology. It’s where we were actually able to integrate this in that hanger right there. And so this is a very special spot for us.”

The new center will include high bay areas to test and integrate Whisper’s propulsion system on future aircraft, as well as dedicated office space for on-site engineering. In addition, Whisper, the airport, and the city of Crossville are working to install high-power chargers at the hangar. 

Once complete, the facility will add to Whisper’s 8,000-square-foot Nashville campus and its 40,000-square-foot manufacturing and ground center in Crossville.

Whisper, co-founded by Villa and CEO Mark Moore, has lofty ambitions but brings plenty of aerospace expertise to the table.

Moore previously spent 32 years with NASA, where he worked on advanced aircraft concepts and technology. He spent about a decade pioneering distributed electric propulsion systems, which are commonly used by electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to achieve lift. Moore even led the NASA team that developed the all-electric X-57, which completed the agency’s first crewed X-plane flight in more than two decades.

In 2017, Moore would leave NASA to co-found Uber Elevate, the rideshare company’s aviation division that was later acquired by eVTOL manufacturer Joby Aviation. There, he met Villa, and the two helped design the drone systems that completed the first beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights for Uber Eats, delivering a McDonald’s order in San Diego.

Villa would eventually become Elevate’s head of strategy. Before that, he spent time at Northrop Grumman designing propulsion systems for both manned and unmanned aircraft.

Not long after Joby bought Elevate, Moore and Villa would found Whisper. Just eight months later, the fledgling firm had designed, built, and flown the first demonstrator drone equipped with its eQ160 propulsor.

How It Works

But Whisper is looking far beyond drones. The company aims to install its ultraquiet system on aircraft from eVTOL to small jets, with a focus on regional air mobility flights. It’s also eyeing defense applications, claiming it can make military drones 100 times quieter.

So how exactly does Whisper accomplish this without sacrificing efficiency? The answer lies in some clever engineering .

The startup’s propulsion system relies on electric ducted fans, which are not exactly a novel technology—eVTOL manufacturers like Lilium and Volocopter use them too. But the architecture of Whisper’s fans enables high blade count and low tip speed, a combination that reduces noise without hampering performance.

The high blade count is achieved through numerous thin, swept blades affixed to an outer rim. In most electric ducted fans, there is a gap between those blades and the outer rim, which contributes to noise. 

The blades are also shorter than a typical fan’s, which keeps tip speed low even at high rotational speeds. Some companies attempt to reduce tip speed by slowing the rotation of the rotor, but that often results in reduced efficiency.

When the blades rotate at a high enough speed, their blade passage frequency—which measures the frequency with which a blade passes a fixed point—enters the ultrasonic range. Tones in that range are barely perceptible to the human ear, keeping noise to a minimum.

After nabbing a $32 million Series A raise in April, Whisper in June unveiled its Whisper Jet concept for ultraquiet regional transport. Designed to carry nine passengers and a pilot on trips up to 500 sm (434 nm), the aircraft features 22 ducted fans and a hybrid electric powertrain. Whisper has tested the concept using a 55-pound drone, which it says is inaudible at 200 feet in altitude.

At present, Whisper has no plans to produce the aircraft itself. Rather, the design is meant to demonstrate what its propulsion system could look like on a small jet, which it hopes will entice potential buyers.

The startup’s likely competitors include eVTOL manufacturers like Joby, Lilium, and Archer Aviation, as well as urban air mobility providers like Blade Air Mobility and Jaunt Air Mobility. Those companies offer short-hop flights powered by quiet, electric aircraft, the same result Whisper hopes to achieve with its systems.

That market is still developing, but Whisper could gain an advantage by focusing on conventional jets and aircraft in the early going.

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Hochul vetoed Senate Bill S7493A—known locally as the “Stop the Chop” bill— December 16.

“Certain elements of this legislation run counter to the federal scheme regulating New York’s airports and airspace. Therefore, I am constrained to veto this bill,” she said at the time.

• READ MORE: Aviation Associations Fight NY Legislation To Restrict Helicopter Flights

The move was lauded by aviation advocacy groups, including the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) and the Helicopter Association International (HAI), which both had called on Hochul to reject the legislation after it passed both houses of the state’s legislature.

The bill would have done “great harm” to the general aviation industry in the state had it been signed into law, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen said. The business aviation organization estimates that more than 43,000 jobs in the state are tied to general aviation, and that the industry accounts for more than $8.6 billion in economic output.

• READ MORE: Archer, United Plan Route Between Newark Airport, New York

“The bill would have resulted in frivolous lawsuits, and it had the potential to affect future

vertical aviation flight operations as well,” James Viola, president and CEO of HAI, said in a statement. “Moreover, the law would have violated the constitutional principle of federal preemption that reserves regulation of aircraft and airspace to the federal government.”

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Lincoln Restler, a council member who represents the Brooklyn Heights and Greenpoint sections of Brooklyn, introduced the legislation with backing from colleagues representing parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Many of these districts are near the East River corridor that air service flights frequently use when taking customers to area airports, the Hamptons on Long Island, and other popular destinations.

“There are approx 4,000 nonessential helicopter flights over NYC monthly by Uber, Blade, and tourism companies. It’s disruptive to our communities and bad for our environment.

That’s why we’re introducing a bill to ban nonessential helicopter flights,” Restler tweeted.

There are approx 4,000 non-essential helicopter flights over NYC monthly by Uber, Blade & tourism companies.

It’s disruptive to our communities & bad for our environment. 

That’s why we’re introducing a bill to ban non-essential helicopter flights. https://t.co/3jBAujJjnk

— Lincoln Restler (@LincolnRestler) June 16, 2022

City residents have long complained about helicopter noise, but the intensity of complaints has increased in the past several years as flights have become more widely available through ride-sharing apps and other electronic booking platforms. The buzz of choppers overhead, which residents report as “unrelenting” in some areas, has also led to an adversarial “us vs. them” sentiment that resonates in headlines and political discussions.

Similar noise complaints are at the root of a conflict that could eventually result in the closure of East Hampton Airport (KJPX), long a hub of operations for air-taxi services. In that case, the town moved to convert the public airport to private use, which would require pilots to obtain permission before landing. New rules would also limit the number of commercial flights at the airport. Air transport services, airport businesses, and pilot groups sued the town and the issue is currently in litigation.

Depending on the outcome of that litigation, it could also have a significant impact on the many companies planning to launch electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in the coming years.

While passage of the council bill, closure of the East Hampton airport—or both—would hurt air-taxi operations, transport companies would still be able to operate from alternate facilities, including the West 30th Street Heliport (KJRA) that is not city-owned, Montauk Airport (KMTP), and Southampton Heliport (87N).

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On Thursday, FAA officials told legislators that the agency was taking steps toward reducing the impact of aircraft noise exposure.

Testifying before a House Subcommittee on Aviation, Kevin Welsh, the executive director of the FAA’s Office of Environment and Energy, summarized steps the agency took to reduce noise exposure and outlined more proactive measures to come.

FAA Updates Lawmakers on Noise Initiatives 

In short, Welsh explained that for the FAA to improve on its track record to lower noise over neighborhoods, there would have to be more collaboration from key stakeholders.

“Successfully addressing aviation noise requires collaboration, cooperation, and coordination across aviation stakeholders, including the FAA, air carriers, airports, aircraft manufacturers, local land use planning authorities, communities, and elected officials,” Welsh said.

“Decisions about flight times, number of operations, and aircraft types are in the scope of private industry. Land use planning near airports, including the proximity of residential development, schools, and other noise-sensitive uses, is addressed at the state and local levels. 

“In short, the FAA has an important role in taking action to address aircraft noise, but we cannot do it alone.”

According to the FAA, noise exposure in the past half-century has decreased five-fold, even as more people travel and the population increases. Some of this is attributed to improvement in aircraft design and initiatives like the CLEEN program, which called for acceleration of the development of new aircraft and engine technologies. In 2021, the FAA initiated the third phase of CLEEN with more than $100 million in funding, including a community noise exposure target.

“The noise produced by one Boeing 707-200 flight, a typical airplane in the 1970s, is equivalent in noise to 30 Boeing 737-800 flights that are typical today,” Welsh told lawmakers. “While communities no longer experience very loud single flights, like the airplanes of the 1970s, they do experience more frequent operations of much quieter airplanes.”

How Modernizing the Airspace Created All This Noise

In 2012, Congress called upon the FAA to speed up its NextGen rollout. NextGen depends on aircraft using satellite-enabled performance-based navigation (PBN) procedures to optimize the national airspace, which creates more effective flight paths for air traffic. The problem stems from the fact that these flight paths now go directly over more communities. 

Despite another FAA ground planning program that has provided more than $10 billion to insulate buildings, the higher frequency of flights over communities has created this noisy problem the agency didn’t plan for.

“These changes, both air traffic procedures and air traffic growth, have resulted in new and increased concerns about aircraft noise, particularly by communities experiencing an increased number of flights, even if the overall noise levels have decreased,” Welsh said.

When communities began complaining about the racket, the FAA realized they overlooked a critical step to include and engage the affected districts in their planning.

How Lawmakers Are Responding to Changes

However, it was a successful 2014 lawsuit from the city of Phoenix, Arizona, against the FAA that caused recourse. The suit alleged that the agency failed to include the city in its plans before rolling out its NextGen procedures over neighborhoods. 

Phoenix’s former mayor, Greg Stanton, who now serves as a U.S. representative from Arizona, recounted the ordeal in which the FAA “found a potential for controversy but did not notify local citizens and community leaders of the proposed changes despite being obligated to do so, much less to allow them to weigh in.”

Welsh said the lawsuit caused the FAA to change steps in response.

In 2021, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) called for the FAA to do even more. The GAO published a report that recommended changing flight schedules to lower overall noise exposure. Heather Krause, the GAO director who authored the report, also testified at the hearing, conceding that mitigating noise would require the input of multiple stakeholders and that it requires improved communication.

Yet just this week on Wednesday, Virginia Rep. Don Beyer complained to the FAA in a letter about new GPS departure procedures that led to more traffic over neighborhoods in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C.

“The FAA implemented these changes without an environmental review and substantive community engagement, which are crucial steps in the normal procedural change review process,” Beyer charged in his letter, before calling for the FAA to halt the procedures and complete a proper community review.  

The Path Forward

To improve its efforts, Welsh told lawmakers that the agency would do a better job through community outreach, mainly through the nine regional teams that work with local groups for feedback. Moreover, the FAA has designed a noise portal online where concerned community members can file reports. The agency is also investing in research to better understand the impact of noise on people, including reconsidering the use of the 65-decibel level—equivalent to laughter—as the threshold for noise over residential areas.

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The town board of East Hampton is expected to vote Thursday on a plan to temporarily shut down the Class D towered airport, which is currently open to the public, and reopen it as a private-use operation. Under the proposed change, pilots would have to obtain permission before landing there.

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The board is pursuing the plan “in order to rein in use of the airport by an increasing number of helicopters, jets, and other aircraft that have had an intensifying community impact, prompting thousands of complaints about noise and other concerns,” according to a statement released Tuesday by town supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc.

The expiration of FAA grant assurances last September gave East Hampton a number of options that included restricting airport operations, switching to private use, or even permanently closing the airport. 

Grant assurances give airports access to federal funds while requiring that they continue to operate, typically for 20 years. By allowing the grants to expire, the town essentially gave up the money in exchange for more control over airport use. 

For some time, the town had considered plans to cut down on growing general aviation traffic, and the noise, safety and environmental complaints it generates. Daily aircraft operations, a statistic used to gauge how busy an airport is, have grown to 82 compared with about 69 in 2019. However, the recent rate of daily operations is about the same as in 2007, before the recession slowed GA activity.

Under the FAA’s recommended timeline, the airport would close on February 28 and reopen as a private-use facility on March 4.

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