British Airways Invests in Future of Hydrogen-Electric Aircraft with ZeroAvia

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$24.3 million in ZeroAvia so that the company can accelerate the development of 50+ seater aircraft capable of running on zero emissions hydrogen-electric power.

The investment will enable ZeroAvia to launch a new programme that will 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 commercialisation for its hydrogen-electric power as early as 2024, with flights of up to 500-miles in up to 20-seat aircraft.

With this new investment, ZeroAvia expects to have 50+ seat commercial aircraft in operation in five years’ time and it accelerates the company’s vision of powering a 100-seat single-aisle aircraft by 2030.

Val Miftakhov, CEO and founder of ZeroAvia said, "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. With the airline industry lining up and ready to shift to zero-emissions, we expect to see wide- scale adoption of this technology. We are extremely grateful to British Airways and our other investors, who are helping speed up our progress and ultimately the aviation industry's adoption of zero-emission flight."

In September 2020, ZeroAvia achieved the world's first hydrogen-electric flight of a commercial-grade aircraft. Additionally, the company just 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.

British Airways’ investment in ZeroAvia follows a recent partnership between the two companies announced at the end of last year. The airline teamed up with ZeroAvia through its parent company International Airlines Group’s (IAG) Hangar 51 accelerator programme in a project to explore how hydrogen-powered aircraft can play a leading role in the future of sustainable flying. The project identified economic, network and consumer appeal advantages as well as clear environmental benefits.

Sean Doyle, British Airways’ CEO said, “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. 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.”

See latest Travel Industry News, Video Interviews, Podcasts and other news regarding: COVID19, British Airways, Electric.