ZeroAvia makes a major breakthrough with the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell-powered passenger flight of a commercial size aviation. With that, it is now the largest hydrogen-powered aircraft in the world. It is reported that the flight lasted 20 minutes.
ZeroAvia is a leading innovator in decarbonising commercial aviation. The company’s innovation programme in the UK is funded through the government’s Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) programme. For the project, the company is closely working with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) and Intelligent Energy to decarbonise medium-range aircrafts. This also points to the fact that the aviation industry supports zero carbon emissions and seeks to build innovations in the medium-term.
Val Miftakhov, CEO, ZeroAvia, told the media, “It’s hard to put into words what this means to our team, but also for everybody interested in zero-emission flight. While some experimental aircraft have flown using hydrogen fuel cells as a power source, the size of this commercially available aircraft shows that paying passengers could be boarding a truly zero-emission flight very soon. All of the team at ZeroAvia and at our partner companies can be proud of their work getting us to this point, and I want to also thank our investors and the UK Government for their support.”
The hydrogen fuel cell-powered passenger flight will be a game-changer for the aviation industry globally. Although the hydrogen-powered aircraft might not match the distances and payload of the present-day fossil fuel aircraft, it will get there in the future. This is a significant milestone for the company and the aviation industry at large.