Itochu Corporation is a Japanese industrial conglomerate and recently the company made an investment into ZeroAvia, who are a US-UK hydrogen aviator.

Along with this investment, the two companies have also created a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will see them work together over various projects including maintenance, airport infrastructure and finally, hydrogen infrastructure in Asia.

Itochu’s reason for such particular interest in ZeroAvia, is due to the aviation division they have within the Japanese Major. This sector of their company, includes aircraft leasing and sales, parts and equipment, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services and then also, defence sectors and consulting.

This investment is an excellent step forwards and achievement for ZeroAvia , especially as it is the second major investment the company has received within a week. The first investment was made by American Airlines, as this company came to the conclusion to increase their investment at the same time as they chose to order one hundred hydrogen-electric engines, through a condition purchase agreement.

ZeroAvia has announced that their plan for their next steps focuses on certifying its hydrogen fuel cell engines, in order to make them suitable as a 40-80-seat aircraft by 2027. So far, the company has already received orders for around 2,000 systems.

Itochu announced on the 9th of July, that they ‘had invested an undisclosed value in ZeroAvia and had been appointed the company’s sales representative in Asia.’

UH2 co-founder, Jon Gordon, commented on being one of the few aviators to have made it to the sky with it hydrogen fuel cell powertrain for existing aircrafts. He said, ‘the challenge of bringing hydrogen aviation to fruition was up to ZeroAvia and Airbus.’