World’s first hydrogen powered commercial plane takes off from Cranfield
In what has been hailed as a landmark moment for low carbon flight, aviation firm ZeroAvia has completed the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell powered flight of a commercial-grade aircraft.
The flight took place at the company’s R&D facility in Cranfield, with the modified Piper M-class six-seat plane completing taxi, take-off, a full pattern circuit, and landing.
In a statement ZeroAvia said that the fight marks a major step towards the use of zero-emission hydrogen as the primary energy source for commercial aviation. The company claims that ultimately hydrogen-powered aircraft will match the flight distances and payload of the current fossil fuel aircraft.
ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric powertrain is projected to have lower operating costs than its jet-fuelled competition due to lower fuel and maintenance costs.
The flight was conducted as part of the UK government HyFlyer project – a collaborative effort involving ZeroAvia, the European Marine Energy Centre and Intelligent Energy aimed at demonstrating low carbon powertrain technology that could replace conventional engines in propeller aircraft. It follows the UK’s first ever commercial-scale battery-electric flight, conducted in the same aircraft in June.
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