The Canadian branch of Pratt & Whitney announces the development of the De Havilland Canada Dash 8 demonstrator with hybrid-electric engines that will fly by 2024.

According to the company, the demonstrator is going to feature a 30% reduction in fuel burn and CO2 emissions in comparison with regular turboprop-powered aircraft.

The new hybrid-electric propulsion system is going to be developed by Pratt & Whitney Canada and Collins Aerospace, two subsidiaries of Raytheon Technologies, with the support of governments of Canada and Quebec, as well as De Havilland Canada. Its program is going to follow up on a previous collaboration between P&W and Collins, which was launched in 2019.

The demonstrator is going to be built on the basis of the De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 regional airliner. Pratt & Whitney aims to start ground testing of the aircraft in 2022 and conduct the maiden flight in 2024. The company’s press release did not mention any plans about serial production of the new engine.

In recent years numerous manufactures, including P&W’s competitor Rolls-Royce, have jumped on the development of hybrid-electric propulsion systems.

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