Airbus ZEROe aircraft in a conceptual rendering.
Airbus has formed a partnership with Ireland-based lessor Avolon aimed at exploring the financing and commercialization of hydrogen-powered aircraft as part of Airbus’ ZEROe concept aircraft project.
Announcing the tie-up at the Farnborough Airshow, Airbus chief sustainability officer Julie Kitcher said Avolon was the first lessor to be brought into the ZEROe project.
The ZEROe initiative was revealed in 2020. Kitcher said Airbus will make important decisions about the design and architecture of the aircraft over the next few years, with a view to bringing a hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft to market by 2035. Airbus and Avolon will look at how hydrogen-powered aircraft might fit with the leasing model.
“Working together to consider how the transition can be commercialized and financed for airline customers is crucial to success,” Airbus VP ZEROe Glenn Llewellyn said. “The Airbus ZEROe team is also actively engaged with more than 10 airlines to jointly study the deployment of hydrogen-powered aircraft in the future.”
Beyond this, Airbus has launched the Hydrogen Hub at Airports' program to work on the infrastructure requirements for a hydrogen transition, with 18 hubs participating. One of these partnerships involves London Gatwick Airport and UK-based LCC easyJet.
Avolon president and CCO Paul Geaney said, “While we continue to focus on supporting our customers in modernizing their fleets with lower emissions aircraft, it is also vital we look beyond that at what can further drive our industry’s decarbonization.”
In addition to the Airbus partnership, Avolon has also invested in eVTOL developer Vertical Aerospace and in research into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production.
Avolon, which owns and manages a fleet of 1,029 aircraft, aims to have 75% new-technology aircraft within its portfolio by the end of 2025.
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