Universal Hydrogen, the company fueling carbon-free flight, today announced it has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Air Nostrum, a leading regional airline based in Valencia, Spain. This LOI furthers Air Nostrum's initiative to provide its customers with environmentally-friendly flight options and reduce aviation's contribution to global carbon emissions.
Under the agreement, Air Nostrum would purchase eleven of Universal Hydrogen's turboprop conversion kits for use across its existing and future fleet. These kits encompass a hydrogen fuel cell and electric motor that replaces the aircraft's existing turboprop engine. They also provide for compatibility with Universal Hydrogen's modular hydrogen capsule technology that allows for the delivery of hydrogen to any airport without any purpose-built infrastructure. Alongside the aircraft conversions, Universal Hydrogen would become Air Nostrum's long-term green hydrogen service provider. The conversion of Air Nostrum's turboprop fleet to a Universal Hydrogen-powered, zero-carbon configuration would be concluded after an operational evaluation of the design and performance. The aircraft are expected to have equivalent or better unit economics compared to the existing fleet.
"We are thrilled by this flagship partnership with Air Nostrum to help decarbonize their fleet," said Paul Eremenko, co-founder and CEO of Universal Hydrogen. "This bold step puts them in the vanguard of European regional airlines in taking meaningful action to reach true zero emissions."
Over the past two decades, Air Nostrum has consistently prioritized environmental responsibility by reducing single-use plastics from in-flight services, separation of waste on its premises and on-board, and planting trees to offset their paper consumption. Universal Hydrogen's carbon-free aviation solutions will significantly advance Air Nostrum's sustainability goals while also providing operational efficiencies.
"Each day, our airline explores innovative solutions to provide a travel experience with minimal adverse impact on the environment," says Carlos Bertomeu, President and CEO of Air Nostrum. "This partnership represents a unique opportunity to advance on the decarbonization of our flight operations with the practical and cost-effective application of green hydrogen fuel."
About Air Nostrum
Air Nostrum is, with 75,000 flights and more than 5.2 annual passengers, Spain's leading regional aviation company and one of the largest European airlines in its class. It operates for the Iberia Group under the Iberia Regional Air Nostrum brand, invoices 500 million euros and has more than 1,400 employees. Since 1994, Air Nostrum has transported more than 90 million passengers on two million flights.
Air Nostrum has, thanks to its first-rate management, high service quality and renowned prestige, been awarded a number of important sector awards. It is, for example, the only European regional aviation company to have ever won the ERA (European Regions Airline Association) Airline of the Year Award on eight different occasions, six gold and two bronze, the last of which was presented to the Company in October, 2019.
About Universal Hydrogen
Universal Hydrogen is making hydrogen-powered commercial flight a near-term reality. The company takes a flexible, scalable, and capital-light approach to hydrogen logistics by transporting it in modular capsules over the existing freight network from green production sites to airports around the world. To accelerate market adoption, Universal Hydrogen is also developing a conversion kit to retrofit existing regional airplanes with a hydrogen-electric powertrain compatible with its modular capsule technology.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210714005532/en/
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