ZeroAvia's hydrogen-electric bet clears an FAA gate for its 600kW aircraft powertrain

ZeroAvia develops hydrogen-electric powertrains for aircraft: fuel cells convert hydrogen to electricity that drives propellers, with the ZA600 aimed at 9–19 seat regional planes and larger units planned for 40–80 seat aircraft.

That hydrogen fuel cells would win the first zero-emission regional flights, so early FAA certification of a 600kW powertrain could turn test flights into airline orders.

More than $250 million in equity raised since founding in 2017, including a $116 million Series C closed in late 2023 with the UK Infrastructure Bank, Airbus and Barclays among investors (City AM).

Valery Miftakhov, who previously founded electric-vehicle charging company eMotorWerks, started ZeroAvia in 2017 with bases in the UK and California. The company's thesis was that hydrogen fuel cells, not batteries, could deliver the range and payload commercial aviation needs.

ZeroAvia flew a 19-seat Dornier 228 on 2024-01-19 with its ZA600 hydrogen-electric system powering one engine, the largest aircraft to fly with hydrogen-assisted propulsion at that point. American Airlines, an investor since 2022, signed a conditional purchase agreement for 100 engines and increased its stake in July 2024, when the company said it held nearly 2,000 engine pre-orders.

On 2025-02-03 the FAA issued ZeroAvia a G-1 issue paper agreeing the certification basis for the 600kW electric propulsion system, a regulatory checkpoint AIN described as establishing the criteria the powertrain must meet for type certification.

Starting with regional retrofits kept scope realistic: 9–19 seat aircraft need far less hydrogen storage and power than a narrowbody, so certification was reachable within a startup budget.

Airlines could place conditional orders without waiting for certification, which let ZeroAvia build a pre-order book of nearly 2,000 engines before its first type approval.

Flying a real 19-seat testbed in 2024 gave regulators and customers evidence, making the 2025 certification-basis agreement a natural next step rather than a leap.

Signaling institutional support through a Series C with the UK Infrastructure Bank and Airbus helped de-risk the technology for later airline commitments.

The bet also required sequencing: demonstrate the powertrain, agree the certification basis, then scale to larger aircraft rather than promising everything at once.

In a safety-certified industry, an agreed certification basis is a startup milestone as real as a first flight; ZeroAvia used demonstrator flights to reach that checkpoint before scaling sales.

As of 2025-02-03, ZeroAvia had agreed its FAA certification basis for the 600kW electric propulsion system and continued flight testing toward a certified ZA600 powertrain, with American Airlines holding a conditional purchase agreement for 100 engines. The company said it was targeting certification for its up-to-20-seat powertrain around the end of 2025 and a larger 40–80 seat powertrain by 2027, while holding experimental certificates from both the FAA and the UK CAA for test aircraft.