British Airways is among a group of investors backing a new $24.3 million funding round to support ZeroAvia’s plans to develop a 50-seat airliner powered by hydrogen. According to the U.S.-based start-up, which has now raised nearly $74 million-including $53 million in private investment and a UK government grant of around $16.3 million-it is aiming to get the 50-seater into commercial service by 2026 and believes that by 2030, a 100-seat airliner could be operating with its 600 kW hydrogen-electric powertrain. Applications of the hydrogen-electric system on smaller aircraft are anticipated as early as 2024.
The UK airline has not disclosed how much it has contributed to ZeroAvia’s latest funding round, which was also supported by Horizons Ventures and existing backers Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, Summa Equity, Shell Ventures, and Systemiq. In a statement issued today, the carrier avoided making a specific commitment to operate the 50- or 100-seat aircraft, but CEO Sean Doyle said that the investment in hydrogen-powered aircraft is part of its plans to achieve net-zero carbon emissions on short-haul routes by 2050. In January, ZeroAvia joined the Hangar 51 technology incubator program established by British Airways’ parent company International Airlines Group.
ZeroAvia has not made clear whether its planned 2 MW propulsion system would be used to convert an existing airliner or be employed as standard equipment on a new aircraft design. Its efforts to date have been based on converting smaller aircraft such as the Piper M Series, which it is using as a flying testbed, and it already has plans to convert aircraft with between 10 and 20 seats to hydrogen, delivering a range of up to 500 miles. An image released with the announcement showed an artist’s impression of an aircraft bearing a resemblance to the existing ATR 42 regional airliner.
The company faces competition from Universal Hydrogen, which has partnered with fuel…