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Airbus Reveals Hydrogen Aircraft Technologies at 2025 Summit – Image Credit Airbus
- Airbus has unveiled its plans for a hydrogen-powered aircraft, with key technologies showcased at the 2025 Airbus Summit.
- The company has also collaborated with Air Liquide Advanced Technologies to address in-flight liquid hydrogen handling and distribution challenges. Integrated ground testing is set for 2027.
Airbus shed light on its advancements in hydrogen-powered aircraft technology during the 2025 Airbus Summit.
The company updated its roadmap for the future of commercial aviation, preparing for a next-generation single-aisle aircraft expected to be operational in the latter half of the 2030s. Additionally, Airbus shared its revised ZEROe project plans, which focus on developing technologies associated with hydrogen-powered flight.
Airbus remains committed to commercializing a viable hydrogen aircraft. The company presented key technological building blocks that would enable a fully electric, fuel-cell-powered commercial aircraft. After years of research into hydrogen aviation, this approach is considered the most promising.
The technologies were demonstrated via a new concept of a hydrogen aircraft powered by four, 2-megawatt electric propulsion engines. Each engine is driven by a fuel cell system that converts hydrogen and oxygen into electrical energy. Two liquid hydrogen tanks would fuel the four fuel cell systems. This concept is expected to be further refined in the coming years through additional tests.
These tests aim to mature the technologies associated with hydrogen storage and distribution and propulsion systems. In 2023, Airbus successfully demonstrated a 1.2MW hydrogen-propulsion system. In 2024, the company completed testing of an integrated fuel cell stack, electric motors, gearboxes, inverters, and heat exchangers.
To address the challenges of in-flight liquid hydrogen handling and distribution, Airbus has collaborated with Air Liquide Advanced Technologies to develop the Liquid Hydrogen BreadBoard (LH2BB) in Grenoble, France. Integrated ground testing is scheduled for 2027 at the Electric Aircraft System Test House in Munich.
Apart from aircraft technologies, Airbus will continue to promote the emergence of a hydrogen aviation economy and the associated regulatory framework, which are crucial for the advent of hydrogen-powered flight at scale.
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