EasyJet has joined aerospace manufacturers in urging the government to help fund hydrogen-powered flight, as the carrier launched an operation out of Birmingham airport – its first new UK base since 2012.
The airline, along with companies including Airbus, Rolls-Royce and GKN, said hydrogen planes could be a reality by the end of the next decade, setting out a detailed roadmap to change the sector.
Its chief executive, Johan Lundgren, said there had been “astonishing” progress and that the UK could be a leader in pioneering the technology, but said: “What needs to happen is not to just fly an aircraft, but how you industrialise it.”
Hydrogen has been touted by some as the only truly zero-emission long-term solution for decarbonising aviation, although big logistical challenges remain.
A report from the companies, under the banner of the Hydrogen in Aviation Alliance, called for public funding to support the transition, as part of a number of steps needed including ensuring regulation was in place, preparing airport infrastructure, developing the supply of hydrogen and the necessary skilled workforce.
Lundgren said the sums needed for research and development were “staggering” but had to be seen as a long-term investment.
He said: “[The report is] the first time we’ve had everyone across the board saying what’s needed, from experts across the field, setting out actions by timeline before we can see hydrogen aircraft in the sky at a large scale.
“The breakthroughs in hydrogen-powered technology happening across the UK are truly astonishing but these advances will be inconsequential if we fail to complement them with the appropriate skills, infrastructure, investment and regulation needed.”
Alan Newby, the director of research and technology at Rolls-Royce, said the industry was “making great progress on technology” but there were significant infrastructure challenges, including the transportation of hydrogen and refuelling planes. There was also little availability of hydrogen created from renewable electricity, he said. “Green hydrogen is just not around. That needs to go up the food chain.”
Russ Dunn, the chief technology officer of GKN Aerospace, said hydrogen was “a unique opportunity for truly zero-emission flight”, adding: “I truly believe in the next decade we will see hydrogen in flight – but only if airports and infrastructure are there. That means the right government policy and regulations to be ready to transfer aviation into a sustainable future.”
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Airbus has said it is “firmly focused” on getting a 100-seat hydrogen-powered aircraft in the air by 2035.
EasyJet said it hoped to have such planes in service by 2040. Lundgren said there were still unanswered questions before mass hydrogen flight became viable, but added: “We wouldn’t be on this journey if we didn’t think there was a very good prospect of them being resolved.”
The easyJet boss was speaking as the airline launched a new base at Birmingham airport, where it will site three planes and expand its network with 16 new routes, creating 140 jobs. The routes include business capitals and summer holiday destinations around the Mediterranean.
The airline will also fly domestically to Glasgow from Birmingham, theoretically less than four hours away on a direct train on Avanti West Coast. Asked how flying domestic routes sat with talk of sustainability, Lundgren said it was good if consumers were “mindful about that”, but added: “We do know that if a train alternative is starting to [take] more than two and a half hours, then people gravitate towards flying – that’s just the way it is.”
