Courtesy by Aviation A2Z

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Connect Airlines, a proposed Massachusetts-based regional carrier, has placed a firm order with Universal Hydrogen to convert 75 ATR 72-600 regional turboprops to hydrogen power. According to Universal, Connect Airlines, which is still awaiting a Show Cause Order from the According to Universal, the first converted ATR will be delivered to Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport in 2025, which will fly De Havilland Dash 8-400s between the Northeast and Midwest U.S. Last year, Universal and Connect Airlines announced a letter of intent for the conversion of Dash 8-300s.

In addition to the 25 ATR conversions, Connect Airlines, a division of Waltzing Matilda Aviation in Boston, signed for the right to purchase another 25 ATRs. According to the company, it has committed to becoming the first zero-emission airline in the world.

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As Connect Airlines CEO John Thomas pointed out, partnering with Universal Hydrogen is the fastest way to achieve zero-emission operation because it offers both a retrofit solution for the existing airplane fleet as well as a pragmatic approach to delivering hydrogen to any airport in our route network. By the end of the decade, we see 800 new regional aircraft added to the regional fleet based on this technology and its economics.

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In addition to a hydrogen conversion kit for the ATR 72-600, Universal Hydrogen offers hydrogen fuel services to airports using a modular capsule technology that allows hydrogen to be transported and handled using the existing intermodal freight network and cargo handling equipment. Moreover, Universal Hydrogen will provide fuel services to the Connect fleet under Wednesday's agreement.

"As a result of this order, Connect is firmly in the vanguard of aviation's efforts to meet the Paris Agreement emissions targets," said Paul Eremenko, co-founder and CEO of Universal Hydrogen. If the industry is to decarbonize in time without curtailing passenger growth, this march will very soon need to become a sprint. There is no other way to get there other than converting the regional fleet in the 2020s and building hydrogen-powered narrowbody aircraft in the 2030s."

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