BETA Technologies completes five days of Utah eIPP flights with all-electric ALIA CTOL, testing radiopharmaceutical cargo delivery
Why It MattersElectric fixed-wing aircraft are being tested against time-critical medical cargo, a niche where short routes and rapid-decay payloads may offer an early commercial case for electric aviation ahead of passenger service.
BETA Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: BETA), based in South Burlington, Vermont, has concluded five days of flight operations in Utah under the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP). Working with the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), 47G and Alpine Air Express, BETA flew its all-electric ALIA CTOL aircraft between Salt Lake City International Airport (KSLC), Provo Airport (KPVU) and Logan-Cache Airport (KLGU) to demonstrate how electric aviation could move time-sensitive medical cargo.
The missions focused on radiopharmaceuticals, specialized drugs containing rapidly decaying radioactive isotopes that are used to diagnose and treat diseases including cancer. Fluorodeoxyglucose, a drug used in cancer screening and treatment, can lose half its strength in 110 minutes. Because of this decay, transport costs and Utah's rugged terrain, delivering such treatments to patients is significantly constrained. Alpine Air currently carries them over longer distances using conventional aircraft, and through the eIPP, BETA and Alpine Air will evaluate how electric aircraft could complement those operations.
As part of the program, the two companies will fly regional routes with time-sensitive cargo and collect operational data on flight time, dispatch reliability, turnaround and charging time, weather, aircraft performance and cost. The data is meant to show where electric aircraft can deliver measurable operational and economic value and to give communities a data-driven basis for evaluating future electric air service. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the demonstration provides data to help move such concepts from trial to deployment.
The operations follow a January 2025 partnership between BETA and 47G to bring electric aircraft and charging infrastructure to Utah as groundwork for a statewide Advanced Air Mobility system ahead of the 2034 Olympics. BETA is participating in seven of the eight eIPP programs selected nationwide and has already supported operational missions in Virginia, Maryland, Louisiana, Texas and North Carolina.
