American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) may order up to 100 hydrogen-electric engines for its Embraer regional jets from ZeroAvia (Hollister) following an undisclosed investment in the Anglo-US company, whose total funding now exceeds USD150 million, the parties announced.

The Memorandum of Understanding comes just after ZeroAvia raised an additional USD30 million in funding from IAG International Airlines Group, Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital, NEOM (the world’s largest hydrogen-focused future city project in Saudi Arabia), and venture capital fund AENU on July 20, 2022. Other strategic airline investors in ZeroAvia include United Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

ZeroAvia’s ZA2000-RJ powertrain is expected to come into service on regional jets in the late 2020s. The company’s first product will be the ZA600 engine, designed to power nine to 19-seat aircraft by 2024.

The company said it was working to achieve certain type certifications of its propulsion technology that would pave the way for the engines to be incorporated into the regional jet market in the future.

“Our investment in ZeroAvia’s emerging hydrogen-electric engine technology has the potential to play a key role in the future of sustainable aviation,” remarked American Airlines Chief Financial Officer Derek Kerr. “We are excited to contribute to this industry development and look forward to exploring how these engines can support the future of our airline.”

“Having support from the world’s largest airline is a strong indication of the progress we’re making on the development of hydrogen-electric, zero-emission flight,” commented ZeroAvia Founder and Chief Executive Officer Val Miftakhov.

American Airlines said the investment was in line with its climate goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.