A fresh milestone on the path towards zero emissions aviation was reached last week when a test flight saw a hybrid electric aircraft travel from the Isle of Orkney to the northern Scottish mainland for the first time.
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The six seater plane which runs on battery power and a conventional combustion engine took off from Kirkwall Airport and landed nearly 80km away at Wick John O’Groats Airport, making it the first such flight to follow a commercially viable regional airline route.
The demonstration was undertaken by electric flight specialist Ampaire and forms part of the Sustainable Aviation Test Environment (SATE) project based on Orkney, which is being led by Highlands & Islands Airports.
“Transition to zero emission technology is critical,” said Ampaire founder and chief executive Kevin Noertker. “We’re pleased to be taking a big step in that direction here in Scotland.”
The company’s senior vice president for global operations Susan Ying added: “Hybrid electric aircraft achieve two objectives: reducing harmful emissions and reducing cost of operations to the point that routes such as Wick-Kirkwall become viable for regional carriers.”
The firm says zero emission, all electric aircraft will become viable as battery technology advances and airport charging infrastructure matures.
Highlands & Islands Airports chair Lorna Jack said: “It is very exciting to see this technology being tested for the first time in Scotland and we are proud that Kirkwall airport is the hub for this and future SATE projects.”
Another company which is planning trials from Orkney is ZeroAvia, which is developing zero emission flight technology using hydrogen fuel cells. The firm carried out a demonstration of a hydrogen powered six seater commercial grade aircraft from Cranfield in England last year and plans to launch a 400km flight from Orkney.
Meanwhile, the UK Government has this week announced plans for a series of hydrogen transport pilots in the Tees Valley area involving buses, heavy goods vehicles, delivery vans and passenger cars, after allocating £2.5M of research and development funding.
(Photograph: Ampaire)
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