Pilot left buzzing by first electric-powered flight across Channel

A French pilot has completed the first flight in an electric-powered plane across the English Channel - just hours before an attempt was about to be launched in Kent. Hugues Duval flew his tiny Cricri plane from the French port of Calais to the English shoreline and back last night, a journey considered an important symbolic step towards making electric flight viable in the long term. The flight was completed before Airbus planned a similar, higher-profile attempt from Britain today. Mr Duval said his successful flight was a “relief” and an “important moment” after years of developing the plane and flying it over land.

The E-Fan project, and flights like the Channel crossing, show that the pioneering spirit and ingenuity demonstrated by Louis Bleriot and the other early aviators is still alive today.

Jean Botti, Airbus Group’s chief technical officer

This morning, more than 100 years after Louis Bleriot first crossed the 22-mile Channel, pilot Didier Esteyne was trying to repeat the feat in a battery-powered aircraft. He was hoping to take 40 minutes to fly a twin-engine plane - whose batteries enable it to stay airborne for up to 50 minutes - from Lydd Airport in Kent to Calais. Describing the experience of flying the aircraft, Esteyne said: “It is closer to a glider because there is less noise than an aeroplane. Also, there is no vibration at all. It’s smooth and very quiet.” The E-Fan 1.0 has undergone 100 flights, and this project has taken 18 months from paper to its first flight