EcoJet Pushes Back Launch Date to 2025

Ecojet Airlines, the Edinburgh-based airline, has announced that it has pushed back its launch of 100% Carbon-free flights between Edinburgh and Southampton to 2025, with CEO Brent Smith stating that the airline wanted to “get it right” before officially launching. They had initially planned to begin flights by early 2024.

In a  July 2024 press release, the start-up announced that it had reached an agreement with ZeroAvia, a British-American aircraft designer, to purchase twenty sets of their hydrogen electric engines, with an option to buy another forty.

Flying from Edinburgh, Ecojet plans to use conventional engined ATR72-600s initially but will then phase in the use of DHC-6s, with both aircraft being upgraded to XeroAvia’s ZA2000 engines by 2026.

However, the engine is not due to enter service until 2028, and even then it will only be available for the Cessna 208B Caravan – a single prop utility craft designed to carry 11 passengers. So naturally, the engine will need some redesign to power larger planes with higher passenger numbers.

CEO Brent Smith said in a statement:

“The information that we’ve shared previously was a reflection of where we were at the time and the projected timeline we were working to. Ecojet has been about four years in the making, it isn’t something that has simply been thrown together overnight. As we got there, there were a few things that we wanted to do more work on prior to launching.”

Who are EcoJet?

EcoJet was founded in August 2021, by tycoon Dale Vince, who also established the green energy company Ecotricity in 1996. Ecotricity began with a single wind turbine and now produces 87.2 megawatts of wind power annually.

In the UK he came into real prominence in 2010 when he bought and became the chairman of the semi-professional football team, Forest Green Rovers. After implementing a series of eco-friendly initiatives, the club was recognised by Fifa as the world’s first ‘carbon-neutral football club’ in 2018.

By 2024, the airline began hiring staff to operate and maintain their ATR-72 aircraft and applied for a CAMO (Continuous Airworthiness Management Organisation) with the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority. Prior to this, AMG Ventures, led by Peter Davies, became minority shareholders in the company.

Who are ZeroAvia?

ZeroAvia was founded in 2017 by Valery Miftakov.  In 2019 the company developed the initial components for a hydrogen-electric powertrain on a Piper Matrix. It then moved to a facility in Cranfield, UK where the design was developed and improved, eventually being installed on a Piper Malibu that took its first eight-minute flight in September 2020. In December 2020 ZeroAvia was awarded £12.3 million by the UK government to develop a 19-seat aircraft capable of flying 350 miles (560km).

In June 2021 ZeroAvia obtained a two Dornier 228 and installed their ZA600 powertrain, with initial testing involving the engine pulling a 15-tonne hypertruck across the tarmac. Eighteen months later, one of the Dornier’s TPE331 engines was replaced with a prototype Hydro-Electric powertrain and undertook a ten-minute test flight. The company is expecting to have a certifiable configuration by 2025.

The ZA2000 was developed in partnership with Alaska Airlines in October 2021. The plans involved the development of an engine capable of creating between 2,000KW and 5,000KW of power, with a range of at least 580 miles (930km) on an aircraft designed to carry 76 passengers.

Do you think Ecojet will meet its 2025 launch date? Or will ZeroAvia need to find another partner to get their engine into wider production? Or maybe it’s irrelevant: as long as the much larger airlines are unwilling to invest in alternative fuel sources, how can a small start-up (albeit with sizeable investment)  make any waves in the industry? Comment below.