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Electric aviation firm Dovetail is making a push for the European market with a demonstration of a hydrogen-electric powertrain in Spain.
The Australian company, part-owned by Rex, unveiled the powertrain at an event in Seville, the first of its kind in Spain. The system demonstrated in Seville was designed for a Beechcraft King Air, and comes after Dovetail had been on the hunt for a European location since 2022.
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According to Dovetail, the powertrain is “capable of powering all the best sellers in the under 20 passenger category”, including the Cessna Caravan, Twin Otter and Pilatus PC-12.
“The powerplant developed by Dovetail will enable existing passenger (and cargo) aircraft under 20 passengers to serve regional routes, for example connecting Mediterranean archipelagos within, and with the continent,” said Dovetail in a press release.
“Or opening interesting new routes like Faro to Jerez, in the south of Portugal and Spain respectively, which could connect the two countries in less than a third of the time currently required to travel from one international airport to the other by other means of transport.”
According to David Doral, CEO and co-founder of Dovetail Electric Aviation, the project, partially funded by Spain’s ICEX through its Innova Invest program, demonstrates a global interest in sustainable aviation technologies. A first flight is planned for next year in Australia.
“It is exciting to see things coming together, breaking new ground with a committed team of individuals, a joint mission to decarbonise aviation, and a shared vision to be the spearhead in both Europe and Oceania of sustainable air transport,” he said.
“The work presented today is instrumental for our next step, a first flight, now only months away rather than years.”
José Manuel Alba, Secretary General of Economy of the Andalusian Ministry of Economy, Finance and European Funds, said supporting projects such as Dovetail’s is important for the region.
“The fact that an Australian startup chooses Andalusia for the development of a project like this shows us that the change is real and that the innovative, sustainable and high growth capacity economic model that we work for from the Andalusian Government is convincing those who from the beginning have to be the decisive actors of this change, the entrepreneurs,” he said.
Dovetail earlier this year opened a new facility in the Latrobe Aerospace Technology Precinct at Victoria’s Latrobe Regional Airport, which will be used for Dovetail’s goal of retrofitting regional aircraft with batteries and hydrogen fuel cells for zero-emissions aviation.
