Despite delays and issues with testing, Miftakhov says that ZeroAvia is still on track to meet its previously-announced plans for commercial launch in 2025. He declined to share what type of plane and which commercial partner would be used for commercial launch, but said it will be an aircraft with between 10 to 20 seats. The company plans to raise additional funds to support commercialization, Miftakhov said in the press conference. 

“This is a wonderful first step, but of course it’s only the first step,” says Andreas Schafer, director of the air transportation systems lab at University College London. 

Small, short-range commercial aircraft could be powered by hydrogen fuel cells within the decade, Schafer says. But those routes represent a small fraction of the aviation industry today. “It’s really peanuts in terms of energy use and emissions,” Schafer says.

Technologies that can power larger flights for longer distances will have a much greater impact on addressing climate change, Schafer says. But scaling fuel cells to larger planes will be difficult, in part because fuel cells are heavy. In addition, finding space for hydrogen storage on planes can be tricky, because the fuel is much less energy-dense than kerosene, requiring higher volumes of fuel on board even if it’s cooled to cryogenic temperatures to store in liquid form. 

There are plenty of obstacles left on the road to reaching zero-emissions commercial flight, Miftakhov acknowledged at the press conference. “Today we have witnessed a major step towards achieving that goal. But there’s a lot of work still to do.”