ZeroAvia Opens Electric Plane Factory Near Glasgow

ZeroAvia plans a Hydrogen Excellence Hall beside Glasgow Airport. The building will handle every stage of hydrogen-electric powertrain production, from stack creation to full engine checks.

Inside, teams will create high-temperature PEM stacks that work hand-in-hand with electric motors made in Washington State. The hotter running point means smaller cooling hardware and lighter weight for airlines.

The programme already attracts interest, ZeroAvia lists nearly 3,000 engine and component pre-orders, valued at more than $10 billion, showing real appetite for cleaner short and mid-range flight.

 

Why Does The Scottish Site Matter For Clean Aviation?

 

The Renfrewshire hall meshes with an R&D airfield in Gloucestershire and the firm’s motor plant in the United States, giving the company one continuous production chain.

Ground rigs in Scotland will run engines at full power before delivery, feeding results straight to design teams for rapid tweaks. That in-house loop should speed certification.

Early milestones back up the plan. ZeroAvia flew the first hydrogen-electric commercial-scale aircraft in 2020, then doubled output to launch a larger craft in 2023.

These flights prove that hydrogen systems can lift real payloads, turning the new Scottish line into a springboard for routine passenger use later this decade.

 

 

Who Is Paying For The Glasgow Build?

 

Scottish Enterprise awarded a £9 million Regional Selective Assistance grant to start construction.

The Scottish National Investment Bank placed £20 million in equity, and the UK National Wealth Fund added £32 million during a round led by Airbus, Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital and the NEOM Investment Fund.

Earlier Aerospace Technology Institute awards totalling £18.5 million backed cell chemistry research, while private investors pushed overall backing past US$250 million.

First Minister John Swinney and Secretary of State Ian Murray launched the project at Glasgow Airport, telling onlookers it would bring hundreds of skilled posts across machining, quality control and logistics.

The combined cash means the hall can open with modern tooling, ready to handle growing demand without delay.

 

Which Battery Aircraft Projects Are Coming Up?

 

EasyJet wants electric jets on trips under 2 hours by 2030. The carrier is working with Wright Electric, founded in 2016, to build battery aircraft for links such as London–Amsterdam.

Wright Electric already flies a two-seat demonstrator and plans a nine-seat model next year. Design range sits near 500 kilometres, and the firm forecasts cabin sound levels about half those of kerosene jets along with at least 10 % lower running costs.

Large aerospace names are busy too. Boeing teams with Safran on a hybrid power unit that marries a turbine to an electric motor, while Siemens partners with Airbus on high-power motors for passenger craft.

 

When Might Travellers Board An Electric Flight?

 

Progress has moved from whiteboards to runways. Cambridge researchers hopped aboard a 2 seat Pipistrel Velis Electro at Cambridge Airport as well recently, marking the first battery flight from that field.

The aircraft charges in roughly 45 minutes, stays airborne for up to an hour and runs on a battery about 1/3 the size of a family car pack. 36 airfields across the United Kingdom are installing chargers, 14 already active, showing ground support is spreading.

Dr Deepanshu Singh of the Aviation Impact Accelerator called the ride remarkably quiet and said it turned textbook work into something tangible. His colleague Eliot Whittington added that clean aviation will draw on many ideas… hydrogen, batteries, novel liquids and smarter traffic systems.

ZeroAvia targets formal approval of its first hydrogen engines before 2030, while EasyJet and Wright Electric eye that same year for battery jets. If both timelines hold, travellers could clear gate scanners and step onto low-emission wings within 10 years.