EVERETT, Wash. - Alaska Airlines has delivered a De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 turboprop regional airliner to ZeroAvia to undergo conversion to a hydrogen-electric propulsion system. The aircraft recently retired from commercial service with Alaska Air's subsidiary, Horizon Air.

Hydrogen fuels emits only water when burned or used to produce electricity. The two companies see project as a way to develop a commercially viable zero-emission aircraft with fuel cell engine technology it says is around five times more powerful than what has been demonstrated by other engine makers. California-based Universal Hydrogen completed the first flight of a Dash 8-300 powered partly by a hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion system. It wants to eventually see its hydrogen-propulsion technology used by the next-generation of narrowbody airliners developed by Airbus and Boeing.

NASA said in November 2022 that significant challenges remain in adapting hydrogen powerplants to large aircraft, including weight, temperature and electrical loads but noted that the technology offers promise.