NBAA-BACE to Display Electric, Hybrid and Hydrogen Aircraft from Beyond Aero, DTA and REGENT
Why It MattersAlternative-propulsion aircraft are moving from concept displays toward flight-tested hardware and certification pathways, signaling the business aviation trade show circuit is becoming a proving ground for next-generation propulsion claims.
What happened
The National Business Aviation Association's Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), taking place October 20-22, will feature a range of advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft representing electric, hybrid and hydrogen propulsion technologies.
Beyond Aero, founded in 2020 with more than 80 team members across Toulouse, Paris and Los Angeles, is developing ONE, a hydrogen-electric business aircraft designed for six passengers and missions of up to 800 nautical miles. The company has raised over $50 million, secured $2 billion in Letters of Intent, and completed France's first manned fully hydrogen-electric flight. At the show, visitors can inspect a scale model, explore an interactive 3D digital twin, analyze routes using HADES (Hydrogen Aircraft Data Exploration Software), and experience the cabin virtually via an app.
DTA Aircraft, a French manufacturer designing and building aircraft since 1990 with more than 595 machines flying across 33 or more countries and over 300,000 cumulative flight hours, will display the JP1, a two-seat hybrid-electric eVTOL with eight rotors and a whole-airframe ballistic parachute, capable of two hours of flight with two people onboard. The aircraft on display is a flying prototype that has logged more than 200 hours of flight. The JP1 is assembled in Arizona and is pursuing Light Sport Aircraft certification under the FAA's MOSAIC rule.
REGENT, a Rhode Island-based company, develops and manufactures the Seaglider, an all-electric, zero-emissions hydrofoiling wing-in-ground effect craft designed to carry passengers, cargo or execute defense missions along coastal routes. REGENT has secured more than $340 million in funding commitments from investors including Lockheed Martin and Japan Airlines, and holds an expanded $15 million US Marine Corps contract for its Viceroy platform. NBAA Interim COO Dan Hubbard said, "NBAA is thrilled to have with us companies that are paving the way to a new chapter of on-demand aviation that will usher in an era defined by faster, safer and more sustainable transportation."
Industry impact & what to watch
These three aircraft sit in different corners of the same shift: business aviation is testing whether electric, hybrid and hydrogen propulsion can carry real missions rather than stay in concept form. Each company is at a different stage — Beyond Aero with letters of intent and a completed test flight, DTA with a flying prototype logging real hours, REGENT with signed funding and a defense contract already in hand.
The segment's progress depends less on the show floor than on certification and funding milestones landing on schedule. DTA's pursuit of Light Sport Aircraft status under the FAA's MOSAIC rule, Beyond Aero's conversion of letters of intent into firm orders, and REGENT's execution against its Marine Corps contract are the markers that separate display pieces from deliverable aircraft.
What happens next will show up in certification filings, funding announcements, and whether any of these three aircraft moves from flight-test hours to a defined delivery timeline.
