Maritime Energy Heli Air Services-MEHAIR, an Indian seaplane services company, has placed a conditional order with ZeroAvia, a California-based hydrogen-electric engine manufacturer, for up to 20 ZA600 engines.
Hydrogen-electric engines create electricity from hydrogen in fuel cells, which then powers electric motors that turn the aircraft’s propellers. The sole emission is water.
ZeroAvia intends to deploy its first commercial product, the 600-kilowatt ZA600 powertrain, in 2025. It is meant to equip aeroplanes with up to 19 seats and allow flights of up to 300 nautical miles/480 kilometres. ZeroAvia is already closely collaborating with the UK’s CAA and other regulators to ensure worldwide harmonisation and quick certification.
According to a ZeroAvia announcement, MEHAIR has ambitious aspirations to expand over several sub-regional routes in India, using both amphibious and wheeled aircraft.
The release states that MEHAIR will look into various financing possibilities for acquiring and retrofitting the engines for its planned fleet of ten Cessna Caravan aircraft, including engaging with possible leasing partners. The organisation has already partnered with MONTE, its preferred ZA600 lessor partner. ZeroAvia and MEHAIR will also collaborate to ensure fuel supplies for the operator’s services throughout India.
India has ambitious plans to employ hydrogen as a key enabler of its clean energy future, notably in difficult-to-abate industries such as aviation, and to achieve net zero by 2070. A goal has been set for 2030 to make 5 million metric tonnes of hydrogen each year.
Aviation, too, is expanding substantially across the country, with passenger counts more than doubling in the last decade and more than 500 million passengers expected by 2030, according to CAPA India.
Siddharth Verma, Managing Director of MEHAIR, is quoted in the ZeroAvia release as saying that under the highly successful UDAN Scheme, by the Government of India, amphibians and other small-wheeled aircraft can provide much-needed ‘last-mile’ connectivity by bringing in a seamless network of runways and waterways, all while providing an exceptional passenger experience and stimulating local economies.
MEHAIR has historically provided services throughout the Indian subcontinent, beginning with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2011.
