ZeroAvia chief executive Val Miftakhov insists the advanced propulsion developer’s ZA600 fuel cell powertrain is “halfway to certification” and can enter service by 2027.
Meanwhile, the company has been boosted by further UK government funding to develop a new liquid hydrogen storage system.
Speaking to FlightGlobal at the Paris air show, Miftakhov says the company is in the process of agreeing the certification basis for the integrated propulsion system with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Once completed, the regulator will set out the means of compliance.
Miftakhov is hopeful these steps can be finalised by year-end, driving the company towards certification in late 2026 or early 2027. Entry into service aboard the Cessna Caravan via a supplemental type certificate will follow that year, he hopes.
Although conceding it is a tight timeline, Miftakhov says he remains confident it is achievable.
“The way we approach it is that it is OK to have aggressive targets but not OK to have impossible ones,” he says, noting that regulatory engagement has been ongoing for at least five to six years.
But reaching certification will depend on ZeroAvia returning its powertrain to flight.
Using a modified Dornier 228 (G-HFZA), the company performed a sequence of 12 fuel cell-powered flights that ended in April 2024.
Although the aircraft has not flown since, it has been joined by a second example – currently US-registered but soon to switch to a G prefix – which will also aid the certification effort.
Work to equip the latter Do 228 with the certification-intent powertrain will begin next quarter, he says “and hopefully by year-end we will have it in flight”.
Meanwhile, the original test vehicle will have a new role: evaluating a new liquid hydrogen system to be developed by ZeroAvia under a £10.8 million ($14.6 million) project part funded by the UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute.
Called Liquid Hydrogen System Integration & Flight Test (LH-SIFT), the project will deliver a novel lightweight metallic fuel tank and supporting systems for filling and managing storage and distribution.
Consortium partners Green Resource Engineering and Gas & Liquid Controls will collaborate with ZeroAvia on fill, feed, vent and vaporiser systems.
Besides use by ZeroAvia for its own powertrain testing, the Do 228 will also be offered to other developers as a flight-test asset.
A project to convert a De Haviland Canada Dash 8-400 to run partly on hydrogen propulsion is also continuing in the USA.
This will see four 600kW ZA600 electric motors stacked to replace one of the twin-turboprop’s stock Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150 engines. Miftakhov is hopeful the powertrain installation can begin next year.
Meanwhile, ZeroAvia is in the process of raising $150 million as part of its final round of private funding, a process that should conclude by the end of the summer.
“We have great commitment from our existing investors and we are in discussions with several lead candidates,” says Miftakhov.
However, he plans to later float the business on the stock market. “As we certify the first engine, that’s when the IPO window opens.”
