Aviation
British Airways sets its sights on world’s first hydrogen-electric fuel cell flight
- British Airways is investing in ZeroAvia to propel its journey towards a zero emissions future
- It comes just weeks after British Airways announced a partnership with ZeroAvia through parent company IAG’s Hangar 51 accelerator programme to explore how hydrogen-powered aircraft can play a leading role in the future of sustainable flying
- Investing in new technologies like zero emissions hydrogen-powered aircraft forms part of the airline’s longer-term plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050
- ZeroAvia recently completed the world’s first hydrogen-electric fuel cell powered flight of a commercial-grade aircraft as it aims to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable aviation
British Airways has invested in ZeroAvia – a leading innovator in decarbonizing commercial aviation – in an effort to accelerate the development of 50+ seater aircraft capable of running on zero emissions hydrogen-electric power.
British Airways sets its sights on world’s first hydrogen-electric fuel cell flight
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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 $24.3m USD, which will enable ZeroAvia, to launch a new development programme 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 commercialisation for its hydrogen-electric power as early as 2024, with flights of up to 500-miles in up to 20-seater 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.
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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.
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