The agreement sets out to integrate ZeroAvia’s ZA600 hydrogen-powered engines with Otto’s contemporary transcontinental Celera aircraft, with hopes of enabling 1,000 nautical miles (1852km) of zero-emission flight.

The companies have said that their collaboration has the potential to make the Celera the first new airframe design to leverage zero-emission propulsion in its launch models.

Scalable to seat 19 passengers, Otto claims the Celera significantly improves flight efficiency and reduces operational costs as a result, thanks to the hyper aerodynamic design of its fuselage, empennage and wings.

William Otto, CEO of Otto Aviation, commented, “ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric powertrain helps us to realize the commitment Otto has made to lower operating costs and climate impact for operators.

“Otto is looking to provide the most efficient aircraft in all senses of the word: minimising maintenance and operating costs and reducing emissions.”

ZeroAvia’s 600kW ZA600 powertrain is part of Project HyFlyer II, which plans to deliver fully certified powertrains for up to 19-seat aircraft by 2024.

Val Miftakhov, founder and CEO of ZeroAvia, said, “The majority of our commercial deals to date have focused on retrofit and line-fit for existing airframes, which is essential to deliver zero-emission flight to market as quickly as possible.

“However, efficiency gains from new airframe design can expand the impact of zero-emission aviation. We are pleased to collaborate with innovators, like Otto Aviation, bringing cutting-edge clean sheet designs to market as we can optimise the hydrogen-electric propulsion system for those designs.”