Source | Jekta Switzerland

Reported through several aviation-centered sources, Jekta Switzerland (Payerne, Switzerland) is moving forward with a 4-5-month flight testing campaign beginning in January 2026 with its second subscale PHA-ZE 100 aircraft prototype. This follows the company’s first prototype rolled out this past summer that was primarily intended for water trials and ground testing.

Jekta intends to test both 1:9 subscale seaplanes in parallel while it prepares to assemble its first full-scale aircraft, Aviation Week reports, focusing heavily on validating “distributed-propulsion lift performance and achieving the short takeoff distances it sees as essential for commercial amphibious operations.” Drawing on learnings taken from the first prototype’s flight tests, the second PHA-ZE 100 will consider aerodynamic performance, water operations, distributed propulsion and short takeoff capabilities, the latter a particular cornerstone to Jekta’s aircraft.

With around 95% of its suppliers already secured, Jekta’s end goal is the construction of its first full-scale hydrogen-powered aircraft with an all-composite fuselage. The propulsion system is being developed in partnership with ZeroAvia (Hollister, Calif., U.S.), highlighting the company’s commitment to hydrogen fuel cell propulsion after abandoning its initial battery-electric concepts, which it says are unable to meet the 19-passenger seaplane’s range and payload requirements. “We would need batteries with five times the capacity of what exists today, and that’s not coming in the next 10 years,” Jekta founder and CEO George Alafinov told Aviation Week.

Since starting the program in 2022, Jekta’s conditional orderbook has reached $1.35 billion, with expectations to exceed $2 billion by 2026 as demand for efficient, safe and fast amphibious transport continues to rise. The company is aiming for a full-scale flight test vehicle in 2030 with planned customer entry into service by 2031.