Artist impression of (from top) Beta Aviation (right), Cranfield Aerospace, Eviation and VoltAerozero emissions plane considered for air trials by Air New Zealand.
Artist impression of (from top) Beta Aviation (right), Cranfield Aerospace, Eviation and VoltAerozero emissions plane considered for air trials by Air New Zealand.
Air New Zealand is searching for airports where its next-generation trial aircraft can get topped up.
Today, it is releasing an expression of interest (EOI) document to airports where the “lower” emission commercial demonstrator aircraft can land.
An announcement is due early next year on what type of power thoseplanes will have and Air New Zealand plans to have an aircraft flying from 2026. The airline wants to have a base airport and a destination airport.
Air New Zealand chief sustainability officer Kiri Hannifin said depending on the range of the plane selected, the chosen airports could be between 150km and 400km apart.
The demonstrator aircraft is yet to be selected but will be electric, hybrid or hydrogen fuel celled and will initially operate as a cargo-only service. While significant green hydrogen infrastructure is yet to be developed here, she said progress was speeding up.
As part of the airline’s ‘Mission Next Gen Aircraft’ wants two airports that “are motivated to take on a leadership role” in developing the infrastructure required to fly this technology.
Already airports were enthusiastic about the trial, said Hannifin.
The EOI sets out the operational requirements that need to be considered including factors like range.
Late last year the airline announced international firms Eviation, Beta, VoltAero and Cranfield Aerospace were in the running to supply its first zero emissions demonstrator aircraft.
These partnerships involve Air New Zealand signing a statement of intent to order, which commits to acquiring three aircraft initially, with further options for 20, from one or more of the partners subject to an evaluation process.
Kiri Hannifin, Air New Zealand chief sustainability officer.
The chosen primary airport would need to be able to store the aircraft, refuel and recharge it and support any planned maintenance.
New Zealand has less than 30 airports suitable for regular commercial air services and in earlier documents the airline says most of these would be “commercially challenged” to provide infrastructure for novel propulsion aircraft.
Air New Zealand has said it would look to minimise the initial investment burden where possible.
Hannifin said the airline hoped to bring together “a coalition of the willing” to support the trials.
“Work around next generation aircraft is [a] key part of the airline’s strategy to decarbonise its operations.”
While the airline would initially work with two trial run airports, it was also important to note that all airports in New Zealand play an important role to bring next generation aircraft into its network in Aotearoa at scale.
“Over the next few years as Air New Zealand works towards its ambition of flying a next generation fleet from 2030, we will be focused on supporting the building, testing, and certifying of aircraft and associated infrastructure,” said Hannifin.
Artist impression of (from top) Beta Aviation (right), Cranfield Aerospace, Eviation and VoltAerozero emissions plane considered for air trials by Air New Zealand.
Smaller regional fossil fuel-powered aircraft, Q300s, will be the first to be replaced by new technology planes.
However, the airline’s emissions profile from 2019 shows they are only responsible for 7 per cent of total emissions. Domestic jets made up 11 per cent while its international fleet (which then included less efficient Boeing 777-200s) made up 82 per cent. The game-changer will be drop-in Sustainable Aviation Fuel that has been extensively trialled but powering 0.1 per cent of regular flights at the moment.
Air New Zealand has set a 2030 interim science-based carbon reduction target that has been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. Our interim science-based target is to reduce well-to-wake (the entire process of production through to use) greenhouse gas emissions related to jet fuel by 28.9 per cent per revenue tonne kilometre (RTK) by 2030, from a 2019 baseline.
This equates to a 16.3 per cent reduction in absolute emissions over the period.
The airline says its 2030 target is aligned to a ‘well below 2C’ pathway to prevent the worst effects of climate change. Meeting the 2030 interim target requires an absolute reduction in carbon emissions, with no provision for carbon offsets.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (also known as the IPCC) indicates that aviation contributes around 3 per cent of the world’s total carbon dioxide. There are other impacts from flying. Particulate matter from planes has been linked with increased contrail-induced cirrus cloudiness and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions with net increased greenhouse gases.
Grant Bradley has worked at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.
