Sustainable transport and mobility are crucial to the global environment, economy and society. Today's larger aircraft can operate efficiently with high passenger numbers or high freight loads. This has led to the current Hub-and-Spoke (HAS) model of airport operations designed for large aircraft. This results in very congested major airports and long door-to-door travel times for passengers. This is costly to both passengers and air transport system operators. These larger aircraft also contribute significantly to the climate emergency through carbon emissions.

The UK Government has pledged to make air transport net-zero by 2050 -- balancing production and removal of carbon by the sector. Tomorrow's **smaller electric aircraft, with more frequent departures,** will enable the move from HAS operations to a more direct Point-to-Point (PTP) model. This net-zero aviation system will improve public access to flight routes, reduce congestion at major hub airports, create more economically viable regional air transport operations and **cut carbon emissions**.

This project uses a holistic systems approach to simulate and physically demonstrate the viability of electric aircraft in regional air transport operations and the changes needed to achieve a **scalable ecosystem with demonstrable** economic and environmental impact. The 2ZERO project will carry out flight demonstration of a novel 365KW initial prototype of 6-seat hybrid electric (HE) aircraft to assess performance capabilities and operational requirements.

The project will also integrate a parallel HE architecture and novel battery pack energy system into a 1MW 19-seat hybrid electric (HE) Twin Otter aircraft to prepare for flight demonstration in Phase3\. This would be the largest passenger capacity for which HE flight is demonstrated. Modelling and simulation will be used to optimise flights based on this class of HE aircraft. This research will uncover the system-wide changes necessary for future operations of HE aircraft, including new standards and certification, airport infrastructure, demand management for renewable ground power (storage, distribution, and charging), optimisation of ground operations and air traffic route systems. Significantly reduced operating costs and the PTP route structure will dramatically improve flexibility for airline operators and ease congestion at major hubs by creating viable routes from smaller regional airports.

Environmentally, HE aircraft enables 100% clean energy operation in the UK through infrastructure changes and near-term bio-jet fuel use, achieving up to 75% emissions reduction. Additionally, aircraft in-flight noise will be reduced by 40-50%, and by 90% on the ground. Both the noise and emissions reductions improve quality of life for communities surrounding airports. Economically, HE aircraft will cut direct fuel costs by 50-75% and maintenance/overhaul costs by 25%-50%. The overall airline operating costs will decrease by up to 25%. As the PTP model will serve more city- and village- pairs at an affordable cost, communities will be more connected, creating more economic opportunities.