AGS Airports, operator of Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports, has announced an agreement with ZeroAvia to explore the development of hydrogen fuel infrastructure, regulatory framework requirements and resourcing required for delivering zero-emission flights from Aberdeen and Glasgow airports.
The team at AGS will work closely with ZeroAvia’s specialist airport infrastructure team to assess the opportunities for hydrogen production onsite, as well as exploring potential commercial routes.
Switching some routes to aircraft powered by ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric powertrain will help AGS Airports to significantly reduce Scope 3 carbon emissions from aircraft and reduce noise and air quality impacts locally. At the same time, AGS will explore how hydrogen can be used to remove emissions across ground operations, further extending the impact.
The agreement forms an important part of AGS Airports’ drive to reach net zero carbon emissions by the middle of the next decade.
“The development of hydrogen powered aircraft has the potential to completely revolutionise aviation and it is becoming an increasingly viable option for regional and short-haul aircraft,” said Derek Provan, Chief Executive, AGS Airports. “As a regional airport group serving the Highlands and Islands of Scotland as well as the Channel Islands from Southampton, AGS will be the perfect testbed for hydrogen flight. Through our partnership with ZeroAvia we’ll address some of the challenges associated with the generation, delivery and storage of hydrogen on-site and how we can prepare our infrastructure to support zero emission flights.”
Arnab Chatterjee, VP, Infrastructure, ZeroAvia, commented: “In recent months we have stepped up our work with airports significantly to better understand the operational needs and requirements for hydrogen as a fuel. Working with the team at AGS allows us to plan for some of the commercial routes that we will be able to support in a little over two years’ time, and do so in the setting of a major international airport.”
