FutureFlight
Air New Zealand Steps Up As Possible Early Adopter of Airbus 'Hydrogen Airliners
The Asia-Pacific airline is working with Airbus on a study to define how hydrogen-powered airliners might be integrated into its domestic and regional flight network.
Airbus ZeroE hydrogen-powered turbofan airliner.
Airbus is evaluating three different concepts for hydrogen-powered airliners under its Zero E program. (Image: Airbus)

Air New Zealand is supporting Airbus’s efforts to develop hydrogen-powered airliners through a joint research initiative into how these could help the Asia-Pacific carrier to meet its goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on September 16, the airline will analyze how the use of hydrogen propulsion would change its service network, operations, and infrastructure arrangements, with Airbus providing performance requirements and ground operations characteristics for the new aircraft.

Twelve months ago, Airbus unveiled three concepts for possible hydrogen-powered airliners that it said could be ready to enter service by 2035. Under a project called Zero E, Airbus expects to make a final decision on the most suitable hydrogen technology platform in 2024 and be ready to fly an initial technology demonstrator in 2025. This year, engineers have been working to develop a hydrogen ground demonstrator ready to help it to address complex technology risks around the ecosystem for hydrogen power, such as the fuel’s volume and cryogenic (low temperature) characteristics.