Hydrogen-electric aircraft developer ZeroAvia has reached a milestone in its journey to nett-zero flights by 2025 with the maiden flight of its 19-seat Dornier 228 testbed aircraft last week.
“This is a major moment, not just for ZeroAvia, but for the aviation industry as a whole, as it shows that true zero-emission commercial flight is only a few years away,” says ZeroAvia Founder and Chief Executive, Val Miftakhov.
“The first flight of our 19-seat aircraft shows just how scalable our technology is and highlights the rapid progress of zero-emission propulsion."
Retrofitted with a full-size prototype hydrogen-electric powertrain on the left wing of the aircraft, the Dornier 228 flight took place from the company's R&D facility at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire and lasted 10 minutes.
This marks a step forward in the company’s target of commercial flights using only hydrogen fuel cell power by 2025, reports Travel Weekly. By then, ZeroAvia plans to reach a 483km range in a 9-19 seat aircraft, followed by the range of 1 127km in a 40-80 seat aircraft by 2027.
Next, the company plans to use the technology to develop a zero-emissions 90-seat aircraft, with the intention of further expanding into narrow-body aircraft demonstrators over the next decade.
ZeroAvia is a leader in zero-emission aviation and has secured several key partnerships with major aircraft Original Equipment Manufacturers and major global airlines, including British Airways, United Airlines, and American Airlines.
