France’s Amelia eyes hydrogen-converted ATR72-600s

Amelia (NL, Paris Le Bourget) and Universal Hydrogen have signed a letter of intent (LOI) for three ATR72-600 hydrogen conversion kits, securing the first French airline customer for the Los Angeles-based aerospace startup.

Following the installation of the conversion kits, the parties will enter a contract for Universal Hydrogen to provide sufficient hydrogen fuel to power Amelia’s ATR fleet on an ongoing basis, they announced in a joint statement.

The Paris-based virtual brand of Regourd Aviation (8R, Paris Le Bourget) in November 2021 launched “Amelia Green,” an internal pledge to seek sustainable options to decrease its carbon output.

Alain Regourd, President of Amelia, said the move was in line with the airline’s strategic goal to be the airline of choice for French travellers. “To achieve this, our routes must meet their needs and our products and services must align with their values.”

In September 2021, Universal Hydrogen opened its first European engineering centre in Toulouse, France, which supports the development of conversion kits for retrofitting regional aircraft with a hydrogen fuel cell powertrain such as those for Amelia, as well as the development of modular storage capsules for the distribution of hydrogen to airports.

Regourd Aviation’s in-house fleet of 10 aircraft currently includes one ATR42-500, one EMB-135ER, one EMB-135LR, three EMB-145LIs, and four EMB-145LUs, according to ch-aviation fleets advanced data. Amelia operates one of the EMB-145LUs, F-HRAM (msn 145258).

The Slovenian sister carrier Amelia International (NL, Ljubljana) operates a fleet of 16 aircraft, comprising one A319-100, one ATR42-500, one ATR72-600, one EMB-135ER, two EMB-135LRs, three EMB-145LIs, two EMB-145LRs, four EMB-145LUs, and one ERJ 190-100LR, according to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module.