LONDON – Universal Hydrogen has partnered up with Avmax Leasing to convert 20 regional planes to be compatible with the future of fuels – hydrogen – and to make fuel services available.
The order
The order that Avmax Leasing has placed includes ATR72-600 and Dash 8-300 conversion kits. Furthermore, Universal Hydrogen will provide the hydrogen fuel to the entire Avmax fleet that has been leased out and their owned fleets,.
Avmax has the potential to eventually grow to become Universal Hydrogen’s MRO partner, given the company’s North American footprint and the aircraft conversion capabilities.
“Canada is the largest regional turboprop market in the world putting a responsibility on companies like Avmax to identify and adopt the technologies that enable us to thrive while reducing environmental impact,” said Scott Greig, SVP and head of Avmax Aircraft Leasing Inc.
“This order is an important step for Canada’s sizable regional aviation market, which is home to the largest turboprop fleet in the world with nearly 300 Dash-8s and 50 ATRs servicing over 120 airports,” said Paul Eremenko, co-founder and CEO of Universal Hydrogen.
“As air travel volumes return to pre-pandemic levels, expansive nations like Canada are revitalizing regional routes to reconnect communities and spur economic activity. We’re excited to collaborate with Avmax to bring hydrogen to Canadian skies.”
“Rapidly curtailing our contribution to aviation’s carbon impact requires looking at how we operate our fleets. Universal Hydrogen’s regional conversion kits allow our existing and future fleet to run on green hydrogen, and Universal Hydrogen is simultaneously unlocking cost-competitive and scalable logistics for hydrogen fuel,” continued Greg.
“Offering our customers true-zero-emissions products and services sets us apart, and we hope to see other airlines in Canada follow suit. We see green hydrogen as the only solution to fully decarbonizing the industry and we’re thrilled Universal Hydrogen started its work by tackling regional aircraft solutions.”
Futureproof deal
The deal that Universal Hydrogen made with Avmax is one of the most futureproof deals made so far. The deal not only allows customers and Avmax to be given a steady supply of hydrogen fuel, but also stimulates the research done on these types of fuel to become more economically viable.
The possibility of Avmax to become Universal’s MRO partner would be one of the best possibilities for the both of them, as that support would assure that both parties not only support each other but also that they would be able to get what they want, which is getting more customers.
It would also benefit many customers of Avmax, as they would gain access to the maintenance support from them and they would also gain access to the hydrogen fuel from Universal for a cheaper price than otherwise possible. This deal is truly a futureproof deal with the most benefits to everyone involved.
