Ushering in a new era in the aviation sector, China has flown the world’s first 10-tonne-class commercial passenger aircraft that operates on battery-electric power.Moving from the aviation turbine fuel (ATF) era, China’s CE-25A successfully completed its maiden crewed flight on Saturday. The aircraft carried two pilots and one flight-test engineer during the flight in Binzhou in east China’s Shandong province, China’s state-owned television broadcaster CCTV said.Though Militky MB-E1 (a motor glider) is recognised as the world’s first full-size electric aircraft to fly on battery-electric power with a person on board on Oct 21, 1973, in Austria, China’s CE-25A is the first 19-seater 10-tonne-class battery-electric commercial passenger aircraft. Israel has also developed a prototype of electric aircraft Eviation Alice with a carrying capacity of nine passengers and two crew members but has not taken the project forward.Developed jointly by Chinese state-owned aerospace manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), Chinese battery maker CATL, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and other partners, CE-25A had earlier completed 19 unmanned autonomous flight validations. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has accepted COMAC’s application for a type certificate. The aircraft operated normally, and all performance indicators met expectations, COMAC said.Designed mainly for intercity commercial flights, CE-25A has a cruising speed of 300 km per hour, a cruising altitude of 2,400 metres and a range of 400 km, according to CCTV.According to the company, the entire test session lasted nearly an hour (57 minutes and 46 seconds), with the aircraft spending just over 16 minutes in the air and covering a distance of 60.4 km.CE-25A will certainly inspire India and other countries to explore developing such electric power-operated aircraft and curb air pollution due to ATF in upper layers of the atmosphere.