ZeroAvia has signed an agreement with Dale Vince’s newly launched airline, Ecojet, to supply them with up to 70 hydrogen-electric, zero-emissions engines.
Ecojet is set to commence operations in 2024. Initially, it will use conventionally powered aircraft, with routes flying to and from Edinburgh. Then, aiming to become the world’s first electric airline, it will retrofit its fleet with ZeroAvia’s ZA600 engines once they are certified – ZeroAvia is looking for this to happen in 2025.
According to ZeroAvia, if powered by green hydrogen that has been generated by UK wind, domestic flights would have a lower lifecycle carbon emissions per passenger than any other common mode of transport in operation today. This includes fully occupied cars, domestic rail and coach travel.
A much larger order is also in place for ZeroAvia’s more powerful ZA2000 engine. This is designed for up to 80-seater regional turboprops, with ZeroAvia looking for it to enter into service by 2027. ZeroAvia, Ecojet and MONTE – ZeroAvia’s preferred ZA600 lessor partner – will now work together with airports and other industry partners to identify and finance the first pathways for hydrogen-electric commercial operations.
In reaction, Dale Vince, Ecojet’s founder, said the agreement was proof that people do not have to give up flying to live a green lifestyle or get the UK to net zero.
Vince continued: “The technology is here now and the planes are coming very soon – carbon free, guilt free flying is just around the corner. And although aviation is responsible for only a small part of all global emissions, it occupies a far bigger space than that in our psyche. The hearts and minds value of this new opportunity outweighs the carbon issue significantly. It shows that everything we need to do, can be done, with a low to zero carbon footprint.”
