The Beta Technologies Alia (officially stylized as ALIA) is an electric utility aircraft built by Beta Technologies. The Alia is built in two models; the VTOL A250, and the CTOL CX300. An unmanned military variant is also in development as the MV250. Beta Technologies unveiled the Alia A250 eVTOL prototype in June 2020. A successor to the company's Ava prototype, the Alia is a small 6,000 lb (2,720 kg) aircraft with an arched 50 ft (15 m) wing. An electric aircraft, the Alia A250 is powered by a single pusher propeller for forward flight as well as four rotors mounted at wing level for VTOL flight. Beta announced a five-passenger variant of the Alia in September 2024, though a prototype had yet to be built. After several months of ground and tethered vertical flight testing at Beta Technologies' headquarters in Burlington, Vermont, the Alia A250 was airlifted to Plattsburgh, New York in June 2020 for advanced flight testing. In March 2021, the A250 made a test flight from Plattsburgh, across Lake Champlain, and back to Burlington. In May 2021, the US Air Force's Public Affairs office announced that Beta Technologies was granted the Air Force's first airworthiness certificate as a part of the AFWERX Agility Prime program, allowing the military to begin using the company's aircraft for test flights.[8] In July, the company completed a 205 mi (330 km) crewed flig[9]ht of its aircraft, its longest flight up to that point. The company announced on January 31, 2022, that it had won a US Army contract to support flight testing of its Alia electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. The partnership is designed to help the Army test specific military cargo and logistics missions for eVTOLs, while allowing Beta to accelerate development for both military and civil applications. Initially, Army engineers and Beta's team would evaluate how Alia might best be applied to specific missions by measuring its range, altitude, endurance, and payload limits.[10] In March 2022, the company hosted the United States Air Force and USAF test pilots flew the Alia aircraft for the first time. In May 2022, an Alia aircraft completed a flight of 1,400 mi (2,300 km) in total, from New York State to Arkansas. This included stops along the way for recharging on the company's network. In December, an Alia completed another test flight after traveling 876 mi (1,410 km) to UPS Worldport, where its founder was met by US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. In March 2023, the company sought FAA certification for the Alia CX300 and had received orders for the new product from Bristow, Air New Zealand, and United Therapeutics. The company said that FAA test pilots had flown the aircraft during a qualification evaluation earlier that year. For more details of operational history, orders and variants, click here.
