The aviation industry is facing many challenges and opportunities in its journey toward a sustainable future. On Thursday, 20th of October, Transavia, Maeve and Zepp.Solutions shared their latest development and challenges during the Kick-off of the sustainable aviation Challenges & Opportunities Session. We look back at the successful kick-off of the sustainable aviation challenges event and we were glad to receive so much positive feedback. We are now ready to take the challenges to the next level!

At the kick-off Erwin Koenraads CFO of Maeve Aerospace explained the challenge of the delicate balance between passenger count, range and battery with regards to flying electric. By 2030, they want to launch their electric plane that can cover a distance of 550 kilometres with room for 44 people. The plane will be CO2-free and 40 per cent quieter than current planes of this size, all on one battery charge. Maeve sees much potential for the future of electrical flying, as battery technology is getting better and better.

Nico Gielen, Investment lead Transavia Ventures explained where the aviation market is heading in the future to make aviation sustainable. Transavia recently invested in the development of Lucy, a flight company planning to fly all-electric aircraft as part of their sustainability strategy for this year. Transavia is also investing in flying on SAF and Hydrogen.

regional flying etc. He also explained how flying at RTHA on hydrogen could accelerated and how regional airports will play a connecting role in Energy hubs for multi transport modalities.

Turning zero emission dreams into reality using hydrogen fuel cell technology

Jan Bot, one of the co-founders of zepp.solutions, spoke about the development and production of hydrogen fuel cell systems for the HAPSS hydrogen airplane project consortium. Zepp.solutions is contributing to different work packages, but their main focus is on zero-emissions airside operations, where they support the concept development, selection and planning. They are responsible for the development and demonstration of the hydrogen-powered GPU prototype.

With these challenges, Rotterdam The Hague Innovation Airport (RHIA) aims to strengthen and expand its community of stakeholders by sharing knowledge, and attracting and involving parties who can enable the necessary innovations. As in any industry, start-ups and scale-ups are essential for the implementation of new technologies and solutions.

We welcome start-ups, scale-ups and early-stage investors to join us on this journey, more info will follow soon. In the meantime, if you think this fits exactly with your challenges or what you have to offer, let us know by sending an email to f.dehilster@stichtingrhia.nl

This event is part of the challenge and support programme for changemakers organized by RHIA and WorldStartup as part of the Airport Technology LAB (ATL). ATL is supported by EFRO/ Kansen voor West.