Regent Secures a Buyer for its WIG Passenger Craft in Latin America
All-electric wing-in-ground craft company Regent Craft has sold another 10 units to a passenger plane company - this time, Synerget, a Brazilian firm in the business aircraft sales & service segment.
Synerget has agreed to buy 10 of the 12-passenger Viceroy models that Regent has designed for coastwise routes, with first deliveries slated for 2029. Possible early applications could be big port cities, like Rio de Janiero. The appeal factors, the operator says, include the ability to skip airports altogether and to operate on purely battery-electric power.
"Regent's Seaglider represents a compelling new category of mobility," said Fabio Rebello, CEO, Synerjet. "By combining aircraft-like speed with dock-to-dock convenience and zero-emission operations, Seagliders allow us to expand our service offering and unlock new regional routes that were previously impractical or underserved."
In addition to the convenience of pierside boarding, Regent offers some potential cost-saving advantages over business jets, too: no fuel, no airport fees, and no aircraft-pilot training and licensing requirements. As it is legally a vessel under navigation rules (WIG craft have their own COLREGS section), it can be operated by a mariner, with some additional training. The craft are designed with a high level of automation to ensure safety.
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The first prototype Viceroy model is in testing at Regent's hub in Rhode Island, and the company says that it expects a first full test flight later in 2026. It secured an AIP from BV in 2022, and is working on international classification with LR and on domestic regulatory certification with the U.S. Coast Guard.
Regent says that it has secured hundreds of orders. Potential future users could include the U.S. Marine Corps, which has been a key partner during technical development and has explored the option of a militarized version, potentially for use in interisland transport in the Western Pacific.
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