Monday 20 February 2023

Hydrogen flights from Birmingham to Ibiza?

ZeroAvia and Birmingham Airport have joined forces to see passengers jet off on their holidays in hydrogen-powered aeroplanes.

Off the back of a successful test of its prototype hydrogen-electric engine, ZeroAvia is now looking to take its technology to market – looking to have an aircraft capable of flying 300 nautical miles with zero emissions by 2025.

This would see possible flights from Birmingham to Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast or the Isle of Man within two years.

Birmingham Airport has committed to becoming a net zero airport by 2033 and is hopeful this new relationship will make this a reality.

By 2027, ZeroAvia is targeting an 80-seat zero-emission aircraft available to travel far enough for holiday goers to travel from the Midlands to the Mediterranean.

Arnab Chatterjee, VP, Infrastructure, ZeroAvia, said: “Birmingham Airport can be a central hub in a green flight network in the UK, given that any domestic mainland destination will be reachable from the airport using our first systems in 2025.

“It is fantastic to engage with forward-thinking airports that want to be early innovators and developers to deliver the vision of bringing truly clean, quiet and pollution-free flights to the UK.”

The airport’s Sustainability Officer, Simon Richards, added: “We could, quite conceivably, see the first hydrogen-powered domestic passenger flight taking off from Birmingham Airport in the UK in the next few years. That’s mind-blowing.”