Second green flight hub announced in the UK
From one corner of Britain to the next.
After demonstrating its EEL Hybrid-electric aircraft in Hawaii and California, Ampaire, is taking a rather active role in the UK’s sustainable aviation programme.
The American firm, which just a few days ago was acquired by commuter air travel platform Surf Air Mobility, was already one of the stakeholders in the Orkney green aviation project and it is now going to have a central role also in the 2ZERO (Towards Zero Emissions in Regional Aircraft Operations) initiative, which is funded through HM government’s Future Flight Challenge, a £30M (=$42M approx.), a programme run by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
Instead of the wind-swept archipelago off the north coast of Scotland, the setting of this project is going to be the Southwestern tip of England.
The list of participants is long and you can find some of the usual suspects: Rolls-Royce Electrical, University of Nottingham, Loganair Ltd, Exeter and Devon Airports Ltd, Cornwall Airport Ltd, Heart of the Southwest Local Enterprise Partnership (HotSWLEP), and UK Power Network Services.
Exeter, one of the bases of this project and a historical city that traces its roots back to the Roman era, used to be until last year, the home of Flybe, a now-gone (not clear if forever) regional airline. And it is precisely point to point regional traffic that is the object of this initiative.
Ampaire will start testing its EEL, which is a modified Cessna 337, but the idea is to transition later to a hybrid electric version of the Twin Otter, called Eco Otter SX, a significantly larger aircraft capable of carrying up to 19 passengers.
Each partner will contribute its own expertise and resources: Scottish airline Loganair , for example, will provide pilots, which will be trained in the use of electric flight technology, and Rolls-Royce will take care of the propulsion and battery system (it is claimed that, while not fully electric, the hybrid system used by Ampaire could reduce emissions by up to 70%).
Power to recharge the batteries will come from a solar plant located next to Cornwall Airport Newquay, a rather suitable location, since it happens to be on the so called “English Riviera”.