Named as Air New Zealand’s long-term partner for its programme as it seeks to find sustainable solutions for its aircraft fleet, Universal Hydrogen could provide its hydrogen conversion kits to be installed on the airline’s regional fleet.
Universal is developing a solution to convert existing turboprop airplanes to fly on hydrogen, as well as to supply hydrogen to fleets using a modular approach, which it says eliminates the need for new airport infrastructure.
Read more: Universal Hydrogen secures launch customer for its hydrogen conversion kits for cargo aircraft
Air New Zealand’s Mission Next Gen aims to accelerate the technology and infrastructure needed to decarbonise domestic flight. Kiri Hannifin, Chief Sustainability Officer at the airline commented, “Having Universal Hydrogen as one of our long-term partners will grow our collective understanding of zero emissions aircraft technology as it develops and will give them the confidence they are developing a product that’s well-suited for our fleet.”
“As the second-largest turboprop operator in the world, Air New Zealand is a trendsetter for the industry,” said Paul Eremenko, co-founder and CEO of Universal Hydrogen. “We fully expect other airlines to follow in Air New Zealand’s footsteps toward a true zero emissions solution for their fleets.”
Eremenko added, “We’re thrilled to be selected alongside Air New Zealand’s other long-term partners—Airbus, ATR, Embraer, and Heart Aerospace—to quickly address aviation’s contributions to the climate crisis.”
The partnership announcement came the same day (February 7) that Universal revealed it had been granted an experimental airworthiness certificate by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to proceed with its first test flight of its hydrogen-powered regional aircraft.
Read more: Universal Hydrogen ready for take-off: FAA approval for test flight
The 40+ passenger Dash 8-300 testbed aircraft has had a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain installed on one its nacelles, which closely resembles Universal’s original conversion kit of ATR 72-600 regional airliners.
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