ZeroAvia today announced that it has signed an agreement with RVL Aviation which will see RVL operate Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft retrofitted with ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric, zero-emission ZA600 powertrain. “Flights within the British Isles will commence once certification for the engine, airframe integration and planned services are obtained and all retrofit and training work is complete,” said the company in a press release.
“Analysis performed by RVL and ZeroAvia confirms that the ZA600-enabled Cessna Caravan would meet existing operational requirements while virtually eliminating the climate impact of the operations. There are nearly 1,000 aircraft operating cargo routes around the world today that could in future be powered by ZA600 powertrains.
“This current agreement centres on one type of aircraft, Cessna Caravan 208B, with RVL working on the aircraft lease with MONTE – a global asset manager that is focused on financing sustainable regional transportation and its associated infrastructure. The partners will explore opportunities to launch further small turboprop operations in the growing RVL network based on the success of the initial operations, as well as expand the technology across its other operations when the technology and operating conditions permit.
RVL Aviation is a specialist aviation services deliver services to a wide range of Government and private sector organisations.
ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric engines use hydrogen in fuel cells to generate electricity to power electric motors that turn propulsors, with the only byproduct being water. Analysis suggests that switching to fuel cell propulsion can provide an overall climate impact reduction in the region of 90%. Further, hydrogen-electric propulsion can reduce overall operating costs for carriers due to the lower requirement for maintenance and lower fuel costs in the scaled operations.
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