The companies announced at the Singapore Airshow an agreement to study the development of a zero-emission regional aircraft concept. The 12-month cooperative study will seek to accelerate understanding of the technologies needed to transition to sustainable aircraft.
«Advances in scientific research can make clean and renewable energy an important enabler of a new era of regional aviation. The three companies will share their combined in-depth knowledge of aircraft design, market demand, operations, and propulsion solutions. This will help to further develop their understanding of zero-emission technologies and how they can be matured and applied to future regional aircraft,» says a statement issued by Embraer.
Therefore, the study to be carried out by Embraer, Widerøe, and Rolls-Royce will cover a range of applications to develop different types of solutions for the industry, including all-electric aircraft, hydrogen propulsion, among others.
Ceo’s words
According to Arjan Meijer, president, and CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation, «Technological innovations can potentially enable clean, renewable energy to drive a new era of regional aviation. The goal of our collaboration is to create new flight solutions that serve expanded market segments in a sustainable manner. I strongly believe that this could lead to fully sustainable connectivity, including (very) short-haul intercity operations.»
For his part, Andreas Aks, CEO of Widerøe Zero, a subsidiary of Widerøe AS, said, «We are excited to be involved in this exciting research. By working with the world’s leading aerospace technology companies, our goal is to understand how viable businesses can be built around regional zero-emission concepts. And on the other hand to advise manufacturers on operational requirements and customer expectations to design the best possible and sustainable air mobility service.»
To conclude
Finally, Chris Cholerton, President, Civil Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, said, «This is an exciting project that will shape our thinking on solutions for regional net-zero operations. As energy pioneers, this is the kind of engineering challenge we enjoy. We have an excellent working relationship with both Embraer and Wideroe, and we look forward to deepening our collaboration.»
To sumarize, this agreement is evidence of the intention of the various industry players to collaborate and innovate to promote the decarbonization of the sector. Embraer, Widerøe, and Rolls-Royce have all made medium-term commitments to offer sustainable alternatives for their businesses.
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