Maeve Aerospace collapses after hybrid-electric project fails to take off

Configuration of proposed aircraft was switched multiple times over Dutch developer’s brief lifespan.

Would-be Dutch hybrid-electric aircraft developer Maeve Aerospace has collapsed, despite last year securing investment from SkyWest Airlines, putting an end to a development process characterised by endless changes to the design of its aircraft.

Dutch insolvency documents show the business and parent company Green Transition Alliance were declared bankrupt on 28 May. Insolvency specialist Karlijn van Vliet of Cees Advocaten has been appointed as trustee.

No reasons for the bankruptcy have been disclosed, although Dutch business newspaper Financielle Dagblad reported the failure of a funding round designed to secure €20 million ($23 million).

There is also no immediate clarity on the fate of German subsidiary Maeve Aerospace GmbH, which was based at Oberpfaffenhofen airport near Munich.

Breaking cover as Venturi Aviation in early 2022 with an all-electric aircraft called the Echelon 01, the company was the brainchild of Jan-Willem Heinen and Joost Dieben, entrepreneurs with a background in ground mobility services rather than aerospace.

At the time, the company hoped to have the Echelon 01 in service by 2030. It was designed to carry 44 passengers on routes of up to 300nm (550km) and would be powered by eight electric motors each of around 1.2MW.

However, the aircraft – and the company itself – went through multiple iterations over the following years. Indeed, by mid-2022 it had rebranded as Maeve Aerospace and was contemplating a configuration featuring six 1.5MW motors for the now Maeve 01.

At the same time as revealing its new identity, Maeve unveiled an initial investment of €3.4 million from undisclosed backers. By the end of that year it had secured additional funding from the European Innovation Council as it continued to work on its new aircraft design.

That was disclosed in June 2023, with the Maeve 01 showing the influence of newly appointed chief technology officer Martin Nusseler – a former senior engineer at Airbus and Deutsche Aircraft.

It featured an elliptical fuselage and shorter wingspan, with power coming from just four 1.2MW electric motors. Maximum take-off weight was also reduced to 25.9t from over 45t previously.

But by the end of 2023, there was another change of direction: the Maeve 01 became the 80-seat M80 with a hybrid- rather than all-electric propulsion system. That switch came around one month after the departure of Dieben from the business.

Fast forward another two years and the design had changed once again, morphing into the Maeve Jet – a hybrid-electric aircraft powered by rear-mounted electric open-rotor engines. Service entry was targeted for 2033.

In the meantime it managed to attract interest from operators including Delta Air Lines, Japan Airlines and SkyWest – with the latter also investing an undisclosed sum into Maeve in September 2025, in turn securing a position as the launch customer.

Maeve had also assembled a team of industrial partners including RTX businesses Pratt & Whitney Canada and Collins Aerospace and Montreal-based regional jet specialist MHI RJ Aviation Group (MHIRJ).

According to his LinkedIn profile, Nusseler has now taken a position as vice-president aircraft and new programme development at MHIRJ.

“Bringing together top talent from Munich and Montreal to form a high-performing, integrated team is a privilege, and I look forward to shaping the next generation of aircraft and air systems,” Nusseler writes.