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Hydrogen-powered Aircraft: British Airways to Invest in Tech Innovator ZeroAvia

: Apr 1, 2021 - : 12:00 pm

British Airways has invested in ZeroAvia – a leading innovator in decarbonising commercial aviation – in an effort to accelerate the development of 50+ seater aircraft capable of running on zero emissions hydrogen-electric power.

British Airways and a group of investors, including Horizons Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, Summa Equity, Shell Ventures, and SYSTEMIQ, have invested a total of US$24.3m. This will enable ZeroAvia to launch a new development program to further demonstrate the credibility of its technology and accelerate the development of a larger hydrogen-electric engine, capable of flying further and using larger aircraft as soon as 2026.

ZeroAvia says it could achieve commercialization for its hydrogen-electric power as early as 2024, with flights of up to 500-miles in up to 20-seater aircraft. With the new investment, ZeroAvia expects to have 50+ seat commercial aircraft in operation in five years. The company wants to power a 100-seat single-aisle aircraft by 2030.

“Innovative zero emissions technology is advancing fast and we support the development of hydrogen as an alternative fuel source because we believe it has the potential to enable us to reach true zero emissions on short-haul routes by 2050,” said Sean Doyle, British Airways’ CEO. “There is a huge amount of energy and excitement building around the possibilities of a zero emissions future for aviation and while there is no single solution to this challenge, we acknowledge the need for urgent action to tackle the impact flying currently has on our planet and are making progress on our journey to net zero.”

“This new funding, in conjunction with our other recent milestones, will significantly accelerate our path to zero-emission solutions for larger regional aircraft at a commercial scale,” said Val Miftakhov, CEO and founder of ZeroAvia. “With the airline industry lining up and ready to shift to zero-emissions, we expect to see wide-scale adoption of this technology.”

In September 2020, ZeroAvia achieved the world’s first hydrogen-electric flight of a commercial-grade aircraft. The company has  completed a ground simulation of the complete power profile for its upcoming first cross-country flight. The ground test demonstrated a full battery shutdown in-flight using the company’s unique fuel cell powertrain configuration, allowing for complete removal of the battery system in the next configuration of the powertrain.

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