ZeroAvia flies largest hydrogen-electric aircraft to date

ZeroAvia has flown the largest aircraft in the world to be powered by a hydrogen-electric engine. The maiden flight of the 19-seat Dornier 228 testbed aircraft was retrofitted with a full-size prototype hydrogen-electric powertrain on the aircraft’s left wing.

The flight took place from the company's R&D facility at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire, UK, and lasted 10 minutes as the aircraft completed taxi, take-off, a full pattern circuit, and landing. The landmark flight forms part of the HyFlyer II project, a major R&D program backed by the UK Government's flagship ATI Program, which targets development of a 600kW powertrain to support 9-to-19 seat aircraft worldwide with zero-emission flight.

ZeroAvia's hydrogen-electric engine on its left wing operated alongside a single Honeywell TPE-331 stock engine on the right. The test hydrogen-electric powertrain comprises two fuel cell stacks, with lithium-ion battery packs providing peak power support during take-off and adding redundancy for safe testing. In this testbed configuration, hydrogen tanks and fuel cell power generation systems were housed inside the cabin. In a commercial configuration, external storage would be used, and the seats restored.

All systems performed as expected. This is the largest ZeroAvia engine tested to date and places the company on the path to a certifiable configuration to be finalized and submitted for certification in 2023, with this program also serving as key to unlocking speedy technology development for larger aircraft. ZeroAvia's 2MW-to-5MW powertrain program, already underway, will scale the clean engine technology for up to 90-seat aircraft, with further expansion into narrowbody aircraft demonstrators during the next decade.

This flight test campaign is being conducted under a full Part 21 flight permit with the UK CAA, which is a much more stringent set of requirements compared to the E-Conditions framework ZeroAvia used for its 6-seat prototype test flights in prior years. This signifies the maturity of the company's processes and design approaches and its readiness to proceed towards full commercial certification of its powerplants.

ZeroAvia will now work towards its certifiable configuration to deliver commercial routes using the technology by 2025. The Dornier 228 will conduct a series of test flights from Kemble and later demonstration flights from other airports. Almost exactly two years ago, ZeroAvia conducted the first of more than 30 flights of a six-seat Piper Malibu aircraft using a 250kW hydrogen-electric powertrain.

"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 Val Miftakhov, Founder and CEO of ZeroAvia. “The first flight of our 19-seat aircraft shows just how scalable our technology is and highlights the rapid progress of zero-emission propulsion."

This latest achievement follows ZeroAvia's previous world-first milestones, starting with 6-seat prototype flights of a Piper M-Class airframe in 2019, and the world's first commercial-scale 6-seater hydrogen-electric powered flight in September 2020. The 2020 prototype was a part of the HyFlyer I program in the UK. Unlike the previous tech demonstrator program, ZeroAvia's 600kW engine being developed under HyFlyer II is a commercial-intent program.

The hydrogen-electric powertrain on board was fueled using compressed gaseous hydrogen produced with an on-site electrolyzer. To enable hydrogen production on site, ZeroAvia and HyFlyer II partner the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) have delivered and operated the Hydrogen Airport Refueling Ecosystem (HARE), a microcosm of what infrastructure will look like in terms of green hydrogen production, storage, refueling and fuel cell powered flight. The system's electrolyzer capacity was doubled earlier this year from its initial design for the latest project.

ZeroAvia's HyFlyer II program to develop its ZA-600 hydrogen-electric engine and retrofit the Dornier 228 is being delivered in partnership with EMEC and Aeristech and is supported by the UK Government through the ATI Program and the Department for Business, Energy Industrial Strategy, Innovate UK, and Aerospace Technology Institute. Val Miftakhov is also a member of the UK Government's Jet Zero Council.

In recent months, ZeroAvia received an engine order from American Airlines, a partnership agreement with Textron Aviation, and infrastructure partnerships with airports including Rotterdam, Edmonton International, and AGS Airports. ZeroAvia has 1,500 engines on pre-order, partnerships with 7 aircraft manufacturers, and several fuel and airport partnerships, making it a leader in the industry's transformation to a clean future.