FutureFlight
H2Fly Is Ready for the Next Leg of Its Flight Path to Hydrogen-powered Commercial Aviation
The German start-up has completed flight testing of its HY4 technology demonstrator and is working with Deutsche Aircraft to start flying a converted Dornier 328 regional airliner.
H2Fly's HY4 hydrogen-powered technology demonstrator during a test flight.
H2Fly has completed almost 80 test flights with its hydrogen-powered HY4 technology demonstrator and is working on a powertrain for larger aircraft. (Image: H2Fly)

With more than a decade of development work under its belt, hydrogen propulsion pioneer H2Fly is now advancing efforts on a sixth-generation powertrain that it says has the potential to go into commercial service with 40-seat airliners on flights of up to around 2,500 km (1,563 miles). The Germany-based company has already had talks with several airlines about their requirements and in the next few months expects to announce partnerships and plans for the next stage of testing of a sustainable powertrain incorporating fuel cells and liquid hydrogen.

In 2020, H2Fly received a permit to fly its HY4 technology demonstrator aircraft powered by a 130 kW hydrogen-electric propulsion system. The company, formed in 2014 by five engineers from the German Aerospace Center in Stuttgart and the University of Ulm, conducted 76 flights, with some sorties lasting an hour or two.