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What are the runway requirements?

Can you comment on why not go down e.g., to a 10-passenger like the Pilatus (that lands on a 3000' runway)? It seems like the smaller planes straddle the private/commercial line, while a 50-passenger plane commits you to airline buyers. (i.e., even if not optimal for hydrogen electric, would a smaller-capacity target market be more commercially viable and diversify the risk of long-term development?)

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We will be basing our requirements broadly on the current Dash8-300, so we are targeting around 4000ft for the SA-1, but we still have a lot of work before that is validated. It is desirable for us to go with smaller planes as it is faster to market, much lower program costs but we just don't feel that it will have the same impact - both as a business and on carbon emissions. As you go smaller, some costs increase per passenger, like crew and engine maintenance start to dominate at that <12 seat size, and whilst the Pilatus PC-12 is a hugely popular plane, its just not something that could compete with the major single-aisle market. Accessing this market is what would give us the edge and really allow us to build an unusually high number of planes.

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