ROUNDUP: Airbus goes under the engine manufacturers – hydrogen jet by 2035

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TOULOUSE (dpa-AFX) – The world’s largest aircraft manufacturer Airbus (Airbus SE (ex EADS)) is trying for the first time as an engine manufacturer for its planned hydrogen jet. The Dax group (DAX 40) is developing a hydrogen-powered fuel cell engine, as announced in Toulouse on Wednesday. This should be considered as a solution for the zero-emission aircraft that Airbus plans to put into operation by 2035. What the first hydrogen passenger plane will look like in concrete terms is still open. The concept of a flying wing, in which the fuselage and wings merge, is unlikely to become reality with this step towards CO2-free flying.

It had already become apparent months ago that Airbus could go under the engine builders. Airbus boss Guillaume Faury had publicly considered such a step in February. “It’s something that we could basically do ourselves,” he told Welt am Sonntag, referring to electric motors for a hydrogen aircraft. He spoke of a possible “change of strategy”.

So far, aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing have relied on engines from established suppliers such as Rolls-Royce, General Electric, SAFRAN, the Raytheon Technologies subsidiary (Raytheon Technologies) Pratt & Whitney and the German company MTU (MTU Aero Engines). These companies, in turn, often work together in different alliances for individual drive types.

“On a large scale and if the technological goals are met, fuel cell propulsion could power aircraft with space for 100 passengers with a range of around 1,000 nautical miles,” said the responsible Airbus manager Glenn Llewellyn in Toulouse. That corresponds to about 1850 kilometers. The company wants to test the drive from around the middle of the decade on the fuselage of an Airbus A380, which will be powered by classic engines.

At the same time, however, the management has other solutions in mind. In February, Airbus had brought the General Electric and Safran groups on board for future hydrogen propulsion. Together with its joint venture CFM, Airbus wants to test a hydrogen-powered direct combustion engine on the ground and in flight – also on an A380. Airbus equips the jet with tanks for liquid hydrogen.

The manufacturer has set itself the goal of bringing a hydrogen-powered passenger aircraft onto the market by 2035, thereby making CO2-neutral flying possible. “That’s definitely still our schedule,” said Llewellyn. The basic concept should be in place by around 2025. In 2027 or 2028, Airbus wants to officially push the development.

With 100 to 200 seats, the machine could offer the capacity of today’s medium-haul jets of the A320neo family and the smaller A220. Airbus is still keeping the details open.

This also applies to the shape of the aircraft. When the hydrogen strategy was presented in September 2020, the manufacturer also presented a flying wing as a possible form in addition to two concepts with classic aircraft fuselages. From today’s perspective, however, this version has the least chance, said Llewellyn. It would probably be too difficult to implement both the propulsion system and a new fuselage concept in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, Airbus is working with partners such as airport operators and gas producers. “If airlines are to fly with hydrogen aircraft in the second half of the next decade, we not only need the aircraft. We need the infrastructure and the corresponding regulations for this,” said company director Faury, who was connected to the event in Toulouse via video. He warned politicians to develop and enact the necessary regulations in good time. If it is foreseeable that the necessary infrastructure will not be ready in time, this could be a reason to postpone your own schedule.

On Wednesday, the manufacturer announced a partnership with French company Hyport, which develops green hydrogen and is partly owned by energy group Engie (Engie (ex GDF Suez)). This is intended to promote the development of hydrogen production at Airbus’ French home airport Toulouse-Blagnac. The space company ArianeGroup, a joint venture between Airbus and Safran, is to develop a refueling system.

In addition, Airbus is trying to promote the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), which can be used in conventional engines instead of or together with kerosene. So far, these fuels accounted for less than one percent of global aviation fuel consumption, said Airbus CEO Faury. In his view, this proportion should increase to ten percent by 2030.

Airbus has now signed a letter of intent to work with the Finnish oil company Neste, which relies heavily on renewable fuels. His manager Thorsten Lange even wants to guarantee the increase Faury is aiming for, as he said in Toulouse.

All Airbus models can already be refueled with an admixture of 50 percent SAF. The group wants to achieve 100 percent approval by 2030. However, these fuels have so far only been available in small quantities and are very expensive compared to fossil kerosene. They are made from vegetable oils and animal fats or synthetically as e-fuels.

Meanwhile, Airbus is collaborating with French automaker Renault on research related to electric drives. It’s about making batteries lighter and achieving higher energy density. The companies are considering use in cars as well as in hybrid-electric aircraft./stw/tav/jha/