ZeroAvia announced on August 2, 2023, that it has been selected by Spanish seaplane startup Surcar to retrofit De Havilland Canada DHC-6 amphibious Twin Otter aircraft with its ZA600 hydrogen-electric powertrain.
Surcar is a new airline that aims to launch seaplane flights in Spain’s Canary Islands, a volcanic archipelago off the coast of North Africa.
While Surcar is yet to launch, the company performed a number of test flights in 2022 with a Twin Otter provided by Nordic Seaplanes, a Danish seaplane operator and partner in the project.
Surcar intends to start operations with conventionally powered aircraft but will switch to ZeroAvia’s hydrogen-electric propulsion system, which involves a hydrogen-fed fuel cell running electric motors.
This is not the only ZeroAvia project to involve aircraft produced by De Havilland Canada. The two firms are also cooperating in the retrofit and certification of the larger Dash-8 Q400 turboprop aircraft.