Last week’s trial flight is said to represent a world first for hydrogen-electric passenger aviation. It involved a commercial grade six seater aircraft and was conducted by powertrain specialist ZeroAvia from its research and development facility in Cranfield, in Bedfordshire.

The company also plans to conduct a 400km zero emission flight from an airfield on Orkney, Scotland, before the end of the year. “While some experimental aircraft have flown using hydrogen fuel cells as a power source, the size of this commercially available aircraft shows that paying passengers could be boarding a truly zero emission flight very soon,” said the firm’s chief executive Val Miftakhov.

It is hoped that the trial marks an early step towards hydrogen powered aircraft eventually being able to match the flight distances and payload of current fossil fuelled passenger planes.

Also welcoming the trial – which was part of the Government supported HyFlyer project – Business & Industry Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “Developing aircraft that create less pollution will help the UK make significant headway in achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

He added that last week’s flight “shows that technologies to clean up air travel are now at our fingertips, with enormous potential to build back better and drive clean economic growth in the UK”.

Government has also announced the launch of a new working partnership with the aviation industry – known as the Jet Zero Council – which aims to reduce emissions in the sector and achieve full scale zero emission flight by 2050.

The group is expected to place particular focus on UK production facilities for sustainable aviation fuels and accelerate the design, manufacture and commercial operation of clean aircraft.

Aviation Minister Robert Courts said: “Climate change is one of the greatest challenges faced by modern society, and we know we need to go further and faster if we’re to make businesses sustainable long into the future.
“Through innovative technologies, such as sustainable fuels, hybrid and eventually electric planes, we will build a cleaner, greener and more sustainable future for all,” he added.

(Photograph: ZeroAvia)