A bid by green entrepreneur Dale Vince to create a zero-emission regional carrier has ended without the would-be operator ever getting off the ground, following the appointment of provisional liquidators to Ecojet Airlines.
Unveiled in 2023 with the strapline “the airline for a Green Britain”, Ecojet struggled from the outset, repeatedly pushing back deadlines for launch.
Despite an extensive recruitment drive in anticipation of the commencement of operations in early 2024 – a date later pushed back by at least one year – most staff were laid off in January 2025 as the start-up struggled to attract external funding.
And although it limped on this year, the company’s directors have now opted to pull the plug.
Provisional liquidators Paul Dounis and Mark Harper from insolvency firm Opus appointed to the firm on 14 January “following a voluntary liquidation initiated by the company’s board”, Opus says.
“Ecojet was a start-up business and has no material assets. The members have elected to fund the liquidation process to ensure that the company’s employees receive their full statutory entitlements,” it adds.
Vince, who runs green energy firm Ecotricity, had bankrolled the business since its inception but says he has paused his investment into Ecojet.
“We remain committed to electrifying all forms of transport – aviation is the last frontier and the hardest. It’s taking longer than we hoped to get the technology and regulatory pieces of the puzzle in alignment, and so we’re pausing work at this time,” he says.
“This is a vital frontier in the move to net zero, green living, whatever you choose to call it - and it’s absolutely doable. It’s a matter of when not if.”
But the liquidation comes sooner than anticipated. Ecojet’s accounts for the 12 months to 31 August 2024 – approved by the board on 14 August last year – stated that “operational funding support” from its shareholders “is expected to continue for a period of at least one year after the date of signing the financial statements”.
Vince’s Ecotricity Group received 17,000 shares in Ecojet in October 2024 in return for an investment of a little over £1 million, the accounts disclose.
At its unveiling, Ecojet pledged to begin operating domestic routes from Edinburgh in early 2024 using a fleet of small turboprops, likely De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters. As the business expanded it planned to switch to larger 70-seat turboprops for longer routes.
However, it subsequently changed its strategy, opting to launch with a small fleet of ATR 72-600s.
In both cases, it intended to operate the aircraft on sustainable aviation fuel before converting them to run on zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell powertrains.
As part of that process, in November 2023 Ecojet signed an agreement with advanced propulsion developer ZeroAvia for up to 70 units of its hydrogen-electric engines, a mixture of 600kW ZA600 and 2MW ZA2000 systems, the latter suitable for the conversion of large turboprops.
A separate deal was also struck with ARC Aerosystems for up to 50 examples of its Linx P9 gyroplane.
Alongside Vince, Ecojet was run by chief executive Brent Smith, a former airline pilot, with ex-Air Malta chief Peter Davies its third director.
Davies is also a founder of consultancy Airline Management Group whose subsidiary AMG Ventures initially held a small stake in Ecojet.
Ecojet was set up by Smith in 2021 as Fresh Airlines, before changing its name in 2023.
Following Eastern Airways’ collapse late last year, rumours had surfaced that either Ecojet or Smith were interested in acquiring that company’s assets through a rescue deal of sister firm Air Kilroe from its administrators.
