Airbus Delays Hydrogen But Expands Engine Test Plan

Airbus is slowing ambitions to develop a hydrogen-fueled airliner by the mid-2030s but is expanding nearer-term plans to flight test unducted and ducted sustainable aviation fueled (SAF) engines for its next-generation single aisle.

Under its ZEROe initiative announced in 2020, Airbus planned to develop a 100-seat hydrogen-fueled airliner for service entry in the middle of next decade, and aimed to flight test supporting propulsion and systems technology on an Airbus A380 later this decade.

However, according to Force Ouvrière, the French workers union, Airbus has delayed plans to develop the hydrogen-powered airliner by up to 10 years and is cutting funding for its ZEROe technology program by 25%. It is also terminating unspecified subprojects and has canceled plans to flight test a fuel cell powertrain on its A380 flying testbed.

The delay, first reported by the French AFP news agency, comes after a late 2024 review that highlighted slower than expected progress to overcome numerous technology hurdles. Commenting to Aviation Week, Airbus says it remains “committed to our goal of bringing a commercially viable, fully electric hydrogen-powered aircraft to market. This commitment aligns with our ambition to lead aviation decarbonization and support the industry's long-term sustainability goals.”

However, it adds: “We recognize that developing a hydrogen ecosystem—including infrastructure, production, distribution and regulatory frameworks—is a huge challenge requiring global collaboration and investment. Recent developments indicate that progress on key enablers, particularly the availability of hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources at scale, is slower than anticipated.”

Hints that a delay was coming emerged in December when hydrogen was omitted from subjects covered under requests for proposals for the next phase of Europe’s Clean Aviation research project. Much of the technology development for the ZEROe is supported by the Clean Aviation public-private initiative but Call 3, the first call for projects under the Phase 2 of the European program, does not include flight testing of any hydrogen engine, either combustion or fuel cell.

The latest call does, however, emphasize a doubling down in the near-term focus towards flight tests of multiple new generation engine concepts to support key propulsion technology decisions for Airbus’ A320neo successor. Airbus took the step toward this in 2022 when it joined forces with GE Aerospace and Safran joint venture company CFM International on a flight-test demonstrator program for the Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engine (RISE) open fan technology program.

Now, under Call 3, Airbus is planning to follow up flight tests of an open fan with evaluations of a ducted engine using the same pylon. The targets for this could include a smaller scale derivative of the Rolls-Royce UltraFan geared turbofan, a version of which is in development partially backed by HEAVEN (Hydrogen Engine Architecture Virtually Engineered Novelly), a Clean Aviation project.

Other ducted candidates could also include another geared turbofan based on a version of Pratt & Whitney’s PW1100G geared turbofan in development under the SWITCH (Sustainable Water Injecting Turbofan Comprising Hybrid-Electrics)—a Clean Aviation project including RTX companies Pratt and Collins Aerospace, as well as MTU Aero Engines, GKN Aerospace and Airbus.

“We have decided now that the flight test demo is going to be SAF-based, so it’s not hydrogen,” says Clean Aviation executive director Axel Klein. Commenting at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) SciTech meeting in Orlando, Florida, in January, he adds: “We are going to fly first with an open fan on an inner engine on an A380. So, the open fan will be first and second we will be looking at the ducted engine proposals, which are going to be second on the same pylon.”

Clean Aviation says, “major projects corresponding to Hydrogen Powered Aircraft should be planned in the fourth Call.”  Call 4 is planned for 2025 and Call 5 for 2027, so a hydrogen flight test might come later in Phase 2, but for now there is nothing firm beyond a planned ground test in 2026.