Irish airline group ASL Aviation Holdings announced on a LinkedIn post the group endorsed the ‘Declaration on Future Sustainability and Decarbonisation of Aviation’, launched by the French Presidency of the European Union in Toulouse, France on Friday 4th February, further committing to reduced carbon emissions targets by 2030 and to net-zero emissions by 2050.
These measures will include aircraft technology improvement, improvements in operations, the use of sustainable aviation fuels, market-based measures, carbon pricing, financial incentives, and support to foster environmental and climate innovation in the aviation sector.
Last November ASL Aviation Holdings signed an agreement with ZeroAvia in developing hydrogen-electric engine conversions for ATR72 aircraft. The project will ultimately include an order with ZeroAvia for converting up to 10 of ASL’s owned ATR72 freighter aircraft to hydrogen-electric propulsion, resulting in zero emission cargo operations.
ASL Airlines Ireland will provide a retired ATR72F aircraft for the program development and subsequent use as a demonstrator. ASL will then convert a number of owned aircraft on its freight operations, resulting in the launch of zero-emission hydrogen-electric powered operations for the carrier from 2026 onwards.
ZeroAvia will collaborate with ASL Airlines Group on the development of its ZA2000 Powertrain. This engine replacement is a 2 – 5 megawatt (MW) powertrain for aircraft models that are typically outfitted with 40 – 90 seats in passenger configurations. The ATR variant is optimised to be retrofitted on the ATR72 aircraft and utilises a hydrogen fuel cell and electric motor powertrain.
ASL’s four European airlines in Ireland, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom serve 100 European airports with a fleet of 100 short-haul aircraft. This includes Europe’s largest fleet of Boeing 737-400 and Boeing 737-800 cargo aircraft.
Image Credit: Boeing
Irish Aviation Research Institute © 5 February 2022 All Rights Reserved
