Energy transition turboprop lessor secures production slots for last year’s provisional 100 zero-emission ZA600 powertrain order

[@Paris Airshow, June 20, 2023] — ZeroAvia today announced that it has cemented its agreement with MONTE Aircraft Leasing (MONTE), converting its existing MOU for up to 100 engines to a definitive Purchase Agreement.

For ZeroAvia, this deal represents an important commercial milestone with the first ZA600 build slots being secured by MONTE. As ZeroAvia begins to plan for its production facilities, a good proportion of initial manufacturing capacity is now under commitment.

MONTE is now well positioned to seize significant market share in zero-emissions regional turboprop aircraft leasing. MONTE and ZeroAvia aim to retrofit 9-19 seat aircraft with ZA600 powertrains for airline operators starting in 2025, while also providing financing, infrastructure, maintenance and hydrogen availability services to support these operations.

ZeroAvia is working to certify ZA600, a 600kW powertrain designed to support 9-19 seat aircraft, with the Cessna Grand Caravan planned as the launch airframe. With the first phase of prototype flight testing almost complete, the company is on track to meet its 2025 certification timeline.

James Peck, Chief Customer Officer, ZeroAvia, said: “As well as the huge technical and design milestones we are clearing, in tandem we are making enormous commercial progress, which means that operators will be able to fly lower cost, truly clean aircraft, sooner. Given its pure play focus on decarbonization, MONTE is a great partner for us and we believe they will be at the forefront of enabling these early green operations in a growing market.”

Timothy Eyre, Chief Operating Officer, MONTE, said: “We are delighted to have formalized our partnership with ZeroAvia, who have made incredible progress on the ZA600 powertrain since we signed our initial MOU. Through this partnership, we have strengthened MONTE’s position in the zero-emission, regional turboprop market and enhanced our ability to offer operators solutions to decarbonize their fleets. We look forward to continuing our work with the ZeroAvia team as we continue on our journey to become one of the world’s first zero-emission aircraft lessors.”

ZeroAvia announced the updated deal with MONTE from Paris Airshow where the company is exhibiting its zero-emission propulsion technology at stand B207, Hall 4. ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric engines use fuel cells to convert onboard hydrogen fuel into electricity which then powers electric motors to deliver truly clean flight.

About ZeroAvia

ZeroAvia is a leader in zero-emission aviation, focused on hydrogen-electric aviation as the initially targeting a 300-mile range in 9–19 seat aircraft by 2025, and up to 700-mile range in 40–80 seat aircraft by 2027. Based in the US and the UK, ZeroAvia has already secured experimental certificates for its three prototype aircraft from the CAA and FAA, passed significant flight test milestones, secured a number of key partnerships with major aircraft OEMs, secured pre-orders for nearly 2,000 engines from a number of the major global airlines, with future revenue potential over $10b. The company is on track for commercial operations in 2025. ZeroAvia is part of the UK Government’s Jet Zero Council. For more, please visit ZeroAvia.com, follow @ZeroAvia on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

About MONTE

MONTE is a leader in financing zero and low emission technologies in the regional aviation market. MONTE is exclusively focused on supporting the aviation industry’s transition to net zero carbon emissions by providing financing and leasing solutions for sustainable aviation to regional aircraft operators. For more, please visit www.montecleantech.com or follow @MONTE on LinkedIn

Source: MONTE