- EcoJet could be the world’s first zero-emission airline
- Dale Vince needs capital to make sure flights begin in 2025
- The company are using hydrogen-electric propulsion technology
Eco-entrepreneur Dale Vince is accelerating his plans to launch Ecojet, the world’s first zero-emissions commercial airline carrier, by kick starting a £20m financing project.
The financing project would raise the necessary capital for Ecojet to get an Air Operator Certificate (AOC), which it needs to begin commercial flights. It is planning to launch in early 2025.
Based in Edinburgh, Ecojet is majority-owned by Vince’s green energy company, Ecotricity. It was founded in 2021 as Fresh Airlines but became Ecojet in 2023. Aviation specialists Airline Management Group have also been heavily involved in the company’s development.
Vince, a high-profile Labour Party donor and environmental campaigner, announced in 2023 that the carrier would use hydrogen-electric propulsion technology as opposed to conventional aviation fuels, as it only emits water as a by-product.
Vince said the purpose of Ecojet was to be a leader in “transforming air travel by making zero emission air travel possible” and invited other “like-minded investors to make sustainable aviation “a commercial reality”.
“We are now in a position to be able to invite other like-minded investors to join us in making sustainable aviation a commercial reality,” Vince stated.
The company has also signed an agreement with ZeroAvia, a company dedicated to developing the world’s first zero-emission engines for commercial aviation, to purchase up to 70% of its zero-emission engines. Once certified, these will be retrofitted to the aircraft.
Brent Smith, Chief Executive at Ecojet, said: “We have taken huge steps forward in launching Ecojet as the world’s first zero emission airline and are grateful for Ecotricity’s unwavering support.
“We look forward to becoming operational and welcoming further investors to assist with scaling the business at speed.”
Ecojet was originally supposed to begin flights between Edinburgh and Southampton in early 2024, but this was delayed as it needed to raise more money for its digital infrastructure.
Smith added: “It’s taking time because we want to get it right from the very outset.”
According to Ecojet, the adoption of hydrogen-electric technology will cut operating and maintenance costs.
As a result, the business model will be designed to be more viable, surviving financial hurdles that other airlines have succumbed to in recent years, such as FlyBe and Monarch airlines.
Unlike other airlines, Smith said, Ecojet is “being built for long-term success.”
“Everything for us is about sustainability – both environmental and in the business sense,” Smith explained.
“The UK aviation market needs a stable, solid airline; it doesn’t need another operator that can’t provide reliable services at a fair price.
“We are building an airline that is fit for the future, a different airline than that which has come before, and we need to ensure we get the foundations correct, right from the start.”
As well as acting as a commercial carrier, the goal for Ecojet is to offer scheduled services, contract flights and cargo services once it’s operational. There will also be public service obligation (PSO) contracts.
PSOs are used when a route is not commercially viable for an airline, but the importance to the community it serves results in an agreement between an airline and a public body to provide a service in return for funding.
