Heart Aerospace has announced the ES-36, a new version of its hybrid-electric regional aircraft that carries more payload than the baseline design, and has secured a commitment for 100 aircraft from US regional operator JSX.

The launch order from JSX anchors the new variant's commercial debut. The Austin, Texas-based carrier, which operates point-to-point regional flights, has placed a 100-aircraft order — a figure that ranks among the larger commitments in the emerging hybrid-electric segment and gives the Swedish manufacturer a US operator as a headline customer for the enlarged type.

The ES-36 designation signals a step change from the ES-30 program Heart has been developing since 2022, when the Gothenburg-based company reconfigured its original 19-seat electric design into a 30-seat hybrid-electric aircraft. The new variant adds payload capacity, a change aimed at addressing one of the principal operating constraints of battery-dependent regional aircraft: the trade-off between energy load and revenue payload on short sectors.

Heart has framed its hybrid-electric architecture as a route to lower operating costs on thin regional routes, targeting markets where 30-to-50-seat turboprops have steadily exited service over the past two decades. Payload growth in the ES-36 broadens the aircraft's addressable missions, potentially extending range and load-factor flexibility beyond what the ES-30 specification allowed.

For JSX, the order aligns with the carrier's model of high-frequency, short-haul operations using smaller aircraft. A 100-unit commitment from a single operator represents a substantial bet on an airframe that has yet to enter certification and service, and it positions JSX as a launch customer should the program progress to flight test and type certification.

The announcement leaves open several questions that will determine the order's practical weight. Heart has not yet publicly detailed the ES-36's seat count beyond its name, its range and payload figures, or a certification and entry-into-service timeline. JSX's 100 aircraft are firm orders or commitments subject to conditions that the announcement does not specify, and the delivery schedule remains undisclosed.

Heart's track record to date consists of design work, subscale and systems testing, and program milestones rather than a certified, in-service aircraft. The ES-30 had attracted hundreds of conditional orders and letters of intent from carriers including Air Canada, United Airlines and Mesa Airlines, but none of those aircraft has flown in commercial service. The ES-36 announcement extends the program's ambitions while certification work on the earlier type remains in progress.

The 100-aircraft JSX order gives the ES-36 a concrete customer base at launch, but the variant's trajectory will now depend on published specifications, a certification pathway with regulators, and a first-flight milestone against which the backlog can be measured.