In Washington State, the largest zero-emission aircraft in the world is currently under construction.
Ben Minicucci, CEO of Alaska Airlines, stated, “This is a great step forward in aviation innovation, to help create a new future of flight – right here at home. Alaska Airlines has defined a five-part journey to achieve net zero carbon emissions long-term, but we can’t get there alone. New technologies are required to make that future possible, and we’re thrilled to partner with industry leader ZeroAvia to make new zero emissions options a reality.”
“Represent a commercially viable zero-emission aircraft with fuel cell engine technology around five times more powerful than what has been demonstrated anywhere to date,” according to Alaska Airlines officials, aligning the ZeroAvia’s powertrain with the Dash 8-400 airframe
“Demonstrating this size of aircraft in flight, powered entirely by novel propulsion, would have been unthinkable a few years ago,” said Val Miftakhov, founder and CEO of ZeroAvia. “Launching this program puts us on track for a test flight next year, and accelerates our progress toward the future of zero-emission flight for Alaska Airlines and for the world at large.”
At the event, Inslee said he was proud that Washington is at the forefront of a technological revolution in zero-emission flight and mentioned the state’s long history of aerospace leadership.
“Through innovation and partnerships like the one demonstrated today, we can help write the next chapter of aviation history right here in Washington state,” Inslee said.
In an effort to expand the reach of zero-emission flight technology, Alaska Airlines gave one of its Bombardier Q400 aircraft to ZeroAvia on Monday. ZeroAvia will begin retrofitting the aircraft with a hydrogen-electric propulsion system.
The event occurred at ZeroAvia’s Paine Field research and development site in Everett. Gov. Jay Inslee went to the event alongside other Snohomish County leaders and secondary school students from Raisbeck Aviation High School.
According to a statement from Alaska Airlines, the regional carrier Horizon Air of the airline reserved one of its Q400 aircraft for research and development purposes in order to further advance zero-emission aviation technology.