It is the beginning, but not the end.  Short hop aviation and even medium distance air travel for the commercial airline industry is beginning.

World’s 1st 4-ton battery electric planes to fly in US, 505-mile range on 30-min charge (msn.com)

OK, it isn't going to jet you along at over 500 miles an hour and it isn't going to accomplish trans-continental travel either, but it will fill a niche in commercial aviation that has been empty for decades.  It is an area that obviously depends totally on further advances in battery development and battery research.  We probably forget, or at least most of us, that the same thing is happening regarding marine transport of both passengers and cargo.  Battery powered marine vehicles are already in the commercial sphere and their utilization is just beginning.

Electric Ships: The World's Top Five Projects by Battery Capacity (ship-technology.com)

Entering a new era for battery-powered ships | Marine & Offshore (bureauveritas.com)

Rapid battery cost declines accelerate the prospects of all-electric interregional container shipping | Nature Energy

A more technical and indepth article, beyond my level of understanding, but something that may interest those with a marine engineerng background:

Lithium-Ion Batteries on Board: A Review on Their Integration for Enabling the Energy Transition in Shipping Industry (mdpi.com)

4 years ago Wired published an article about the positives and the negatives of battery powered marine vehicles and the title reflected that if you want marine electric transport then there would have to be better batteries.  It is an interesting article that tackles some of the problems of BEVs in the world of marine transport that plague the world of land and air transport using BEVs, just with a different perspective:

Want Electric Ships? Build a Better Battery | WIRED

Anyhow, the beat goes on regarding both battery development and the application of that development in the worlds of land, sea and air transport.  As it reflects on lithium mining the question might be:  When will total lithium demand (whether due to transport need on land, sea or in the air) be enough to tip the scales in a different direction from the way they are currently tipped today by the Chinese designed overproduction of lithium?

We tend to focus only on the land transport piece of the pie as it relates to lithium demand, but we should definitely remember that lithium demand will also be influenced by an expanding market for aviation and marine applications as well.

Life is complicated and the field of lithium supply and demand is no exception to that axiom.

Onward through the fog, by land/sea and in the air!

Okiedo