The Anonymous Widower

Would Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft Work For Regional Airports In The UK?

In Stealthy Startup Promises Cheaper Flying Via Renewable Hydrogen, I wrote about ZeroAvia and their plans for hydrogen-powered mini-airliners.

They could power a mini-airliner with the size and performance of the Cessna Caravan, of which well over two thousand have been built for all sorts of purposes. I flew in one, on holiday in Kenya, to get to the Masai Mara.

But could hydrogen-powered mini-airliners, as proposed by ZeroAvia, have applications in the UK?

All around the coast and islands of the UK and Ireland, there are small airfields with commercial services.

• Many commercial services are struggling and some airlines have gone bust.
• Many services are important to sustain the local economy or develop new industries like offshore oil and gas in the past and offshore wind in the future.
• Many of the airports are ex-RAF bases and don’t lack space.
• Some of the airports in this category, that I have visited, don’t lack wind.

I think it would be possible to install a wind or solar power driven hydrogen plant on these airports to support hydrogen-powered mini-airliners providing short feeder services to major airports.

The key to making this structure work would be the range of the hydrogen-powered aircraft.

• Refuelling at the remote airport wouldn’t be a problem.
• Would a major airport welcome a gas tanker refuelling the hydrogen-powered aircraft?
• Could some routes be flown, by only refuelling at the remote airport?

I’m looking forward to my first flight!

August 15, 2019 - Posted by AnonW | Transport | Airports, Flying, Hydrogen, ZeroAvia