Proposed UK start-up carrier Ecojet is intending to equip its fleet with engines from hydrogen-electric propulsion specialist ZeroAvia.
Ecojet aims to commence services next year, initially with conventionally-fuelled regional aircraft, with plans to switch to electrically-powered versions once the powerplants are certified.
The carrier has reached an agreement covering 70 engines from ZeroAvia.
Ecojet will take the ZA600 engine for which ZeroAvia is looking to secure certification in 2025.
It has indicated that it will use De Havilland DHC-6 aircraft, or similar, on its network from Edinburgh, but its fleet composition has yet to be confirmed.
But the would-be carrier has also placed a “larger order” for the higher-power ZA2000 engine – a propulsion system designed for retrofit on larger regional turboprops such as the De Havilland Dash 8-400 and ATR 72.
This engine is intended for service entry in 2027, according to ZeroAvia.
“The technology is here now and the [aircraft] are coming very soon,” says Ecojet founder Dale Vince.
He claims that the “hearts and minds value” of the opportunity “outweighs the carbon issue significantly”.
“It shows that everything we need to do can be done, with a low to zero carbon footprint,” he says.
Ecojet will be co-operating with UK-based Monte Aircraft Leasing which is supporting the introduction and retrofit of aircraft with electric propulsion technology.
ZeroAvia has already signed a purchase agreement with Monte covering 100 engines. The lessor is to provide financing for Ecojet’s engine acquisition and installation, its first confirmed customer agreement in relation to the engine production slots.
”We have been working closely with ZeroAvia and our global network of aircraft operators to reach tri-party agreements on the use of the ZA600 powertrain,” says Monte head of investment Rishi Majithia.
Majithia says the Ecojet commitment is “one of the first of these partnerships”.
ZeroAvia has conducted a series of test flights with the ZA600, using a Dornier 228 as a testbed, and it plans to use a Dash 8-400 to test the larger ZA2000.
