It’s a bit of a surprise that ZeroAvia Paine Field (Everett) was booked for May 1. The Anglo-American company, which specializes in zero-emission aircraft that use hydrogen fuel cells to drive electric motors, has partnered with Alaska Airlines to fly a Dash 8-400 with its technologies.

The high-capacity turboprop regional jet could make a first test flight next year. Horizon Air, a regional subsidiary of Alaska Airlines, was one of the main operators of the Dash 8-400, a former competitor to the ATR 72 now under the control of de Havilland Canada, with up to 56 units in the fleet.

All of these aircraft have already been withdrawn from service, with the airline completing its last Q400 flight in January.

A similar partnership has existed since 2021 between ZeroAvia and the ASL group to modify an ATR 72 freighter. Still in Europe, the Anglo-American company also approached Braathens Regional Airlines and the Swedish Skelleftea airport last March to assess the possibilities of future non-mission air routes.

As a reminder, ZeroAvia flew a Dornier 228 (19 seats) on January 19 from Cotswold Airport (Gloucestershire, UK) with one of the engines replaced by its 600 kW hydrogen electric propulsion system. This flight lasted less than ten minutes, during which the aircraft reached an altitude of 2,000 feet.

For the Dash 8-400, ZeroAvia is working on a 1.8 MW engine based on a modular system that can be retrofitted to large capacity regional turboprop aircraft (ZA2000).