ZeroAvia announced a new collaboration agreement with MHI RJ Aviation Group, a company that provides comprehensive engineering and operational support services in the regional aviation sector.
As part of the agreement, MHI RJ Aviation Group will support the certification process of ZeroAvia’s propulsion systems and their adaptation and implementation on currently operating regional aircraft.
ZeroAvia is developing a project to certify its 600-kilowatt ZA600 plant for aircraft between ten and twenty seats. The company expects the system to be available in 2024. At the same time, it is working on the ZA2000, a 2-to-5-megawatt modular propulsion engine that aims to power turboprop aircraft of between forty and eighty seats by 2026. Another system, the ZA2000RJ, will expand this technology and will be available later this decade, according to the company.
The agreement between the two companies, which follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the parties late last year, makes Bombardier’s CRJ series aircraft the first stipulated to incorporate zero-emission propulsion. The model is the most popular among regional operators in the United States.
In the last quarter of 2021, ZeroAvia secured partnerships and funding with Alaska Air Group and United Airlines to accelerate development of its ZA2000 engine, the largest of the company’s propulsion platforms.
