British Airways Teams Up With Hydrogen Flight Startup ZeroAvia
British Airways Teams Up With Hydrogen Flight Startup ZeroAvia
(Bloomberg) --
British Airways will work with hydrogen plane startup ZeroAvia to speed the switch to hydrogen power for commercial aircraft.
The partnership was announced Saturday, as the head of parent IAG SA prepared to outline the group’s plan to reach net-zero emissions at a United Nations climate summit. The legacy airline will work with the startup, which has already demonstrated a six-seater plane powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, on the potential for BA’s future fleet to use the fuel.
The project is part of IAG’s start-up accelerator program, which gives small companies a chance to test their technology on a global scale. ZeroAvia aims to demonstrate its technology on longer flights, and hopes to fly more than 1,000 miles in aircraft with more than 100 seats by 2030.
Hydrogen is gathering momentum as a possible solution to decarbonize aviation, with European planemaking giant Airbus SE laying out its own plans to develop a hydrogen powered aircraft by 2035 and European governments allocating funding. Significant hurdles to such projects remain, including developing the technology and infrastructure needed to support them.
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