Airbus has delayed plans to fly a hydrogen-powered aircraft by 2035 in a setback for the aviation industry’s hopes to achieve net zero.
The decision to abandon the deadline for the short-range aircraft was relayed to staff on Thursday. Airbus declined to comment specifically on a statement by French labour unions which said the entry into service had been delayed by five to ten years.
Airbus on Friday said the hydrogen aircraft was “expected to come later than 2035”.
However, the company said it recognised that “developing a hydrogen ecosystem — including infrastructure, production, distribution and regulatory frameworks — is a huge challenge requiring global collaboration and investment”.
In an update to a net zero road map published on Tuesday, five aviation industry groups said they expected hydrogen-powered planes to be responsible for just 6 per cent of net emissions reductions by 2050, down from 20 per cent in 2021.
Instead, the industry is increasingly reliant on “sustainable aviation fuels” to cut emissions. These can be made from crops, waste cooking oil and other non fossil fuel feedstocks, and can reduce net CO₂ emissions by around 70 per cent when compared with jet fuel. But such fuels are more expensive and are currently only produced in very limited quantities.