Thursday 17 February 2022

Brazil’s Embraer partners with Rolls-Royce and Widerøe for sustainable aircraft

Brazilian plane manufacturer Embraer has partnered with Britain's Rolls-Royce and Norwegian firm Widerøe for research into creating a conceptual zero-emission regional aircraft.

The 12-month co-operation study will cover a wide range of applications for new propulsion technologies to examine potential solutions including all-electric, hydrogen fuel cell or hydrogen-fuelled gas turbine-powered aircraft.

The three companies will share their combined knowledge of aircraft design, market demand, operations and propulsion solutions to further develop their understanding of zero-emission technologies and how they can be matured and applied to future regional aircrafts.

Arjan Meijer, President and CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation said: “Technological innovations can potentially enable clean and renewable energy to power a new era of regional aviation.

“The aim of our collaboration is to create new flight solutions that serve expanded market segments in a sustainable manner. I strongly believe this could lead to fully sustainable connectivity, including (very) short haul intercity operations.”

Andreas Aks, CEO of Widerøe Zero, a subsidiary of Widerøe AS added: “We are excited to take part in this highly interesting research.

“Working with the world's leading aerospace technology firms, our aim is to understand how viable business can be built around zero emissions regional concepts and to advise the manufacturers on operational requirements and customer expectations to design the best possible and sustainable air mobility service.”