European aircraft developer Maeve Aerospace has unveiled an 80 seat hybrid airliner which it says will have the performance of a jet but the efficiency of a turbo-prop.
The airliner, known as M80, is c clean sheet design aircraft and will have a range of 800nm whilst having a 40% reduction in energy consumption.
Maeve claim that Its hybrid electric propulsion system will offer a fuel usage of 2 litres, per passengers, per 100km while cruising at 400 knots (ktas). This will result in a 25% lower overall trip cost and a 20% lower seat per mile cost compared to similarly sized truboprops.
Martin Nuesseler, CTO of Maeve Aerospace: “To my knowledge, there are currently no alternatives in development that are equally sustainable, cost effective, and match the operational needs of airlines and airports. If there are, I would applaud them, because we need more of these realistic solutions to become sustainable”.
As well as being able to operate on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) the M80 will be be fully certified to operate on 100% hydrogen based Power-to-Liquid fuels, mean it can potentially eliminate CO2 emissions to greater than 95%.
The ultimate aim for Maeve is to decarbonise air travel which is something that the industry has set a target of net-zero by 2050.
Maeve Aerospace aims to have the M80 in service by 2031. A date based on the experience and lessons learned from several aircraft programs, and their industrial ramp-up.
The unveiling of the M80 plans come as Maeve Aerospace expands to a new innovation hub at Oberpfaffenhofen Airport in Munich.