The search for alternatives to fossil fuels is not an issue that only affects the automotive industry. Although aviation represents approximately 3% of total carbon dioxide emissions, companies in the sector are also preparing to meet the ambitious goal of zero emissions that the European Union aims to achieve in 2050.
As part of this transition towards more sustainable air transport, aircraft powered by hydrogen engines have emerged as a promising alternative. In Spain, for example, the aeronautical company ITP Aero, a leading company in the manufacturing of aviation engines, aims to launch the first hydrogen-powered aircraft in our country in 2025.
While the ITP Aero project is taking shape, the German company H2Fly has definitively taken the lead. Those responsible for the German company claim to have successfully completed the first piloted flight of an electric plane powered by liquid hydrogen. This is an unprecedented fact that has very significant relevance in the world of air transport, since hydrogen takes up less space in its liquefied state than in its gaseous state and is also more efficient.
Applied to the four flights carried out by H2Fly with its HY4 aircraft, filling the aircraft's tanks with cryogenically stored liquid hydrogen means doubling the flight range.
In this way, the maximum range of the HY4 goes from 750 kilometers to 1,500 kilometers, which according to Josef Kallo, co-founder of the company, demonstrates “the viability of liquid hydrogen for medium and long-range emissions-free flights.”
“We now intend to expand our technology for regional aircraft and other applications, beginning the critical mission of decarbonizing commercial aviation,” added the manager.
Until now, hydrogen-powered planes seemed to be intended only for short-range flights, such as air taxi service. However, the longest experimental flight carried out by H2Fly took off from Maribor (Slovenia) and lasted more than three hours, demonstrating the viability and potential of this technology for flights of greater range and duration. This undoubtedly marks a significant milestone in the transition towards more sustainable, zero-carbon aviation.
The aircraft used to make the first piloted flight of an electric aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen is the HY4. It is a four-seater device 7.4 meters long, with a wingspan of 21.36 meters and a weight of 630 kilograms, excluding the fuel cell, battery and storage system.
It reaches a maximum speed of 200 km/h with a cruising speed of 145 km/h, figures that could improve as the efficient double fuselage design is further refined and the power of the fuel cell system increases.
H2Fly is working on a new generation of high-altitude fuel cell systems, with the idea of being adapted to power hydrogen-electric aircraft with the capacity to carry between 20 and 80 passengers.
Regarding the business framework, H2Fly leads the Heaven project, a consortium supported by the European Union that is financed by the German Government and the University of Ulm. Among its partners are other companies related to the aeronautical sector, such as Air Liquide, Pipistrel Vertical Solutions, the German Aerospace Center, EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies and Fundación Ayesa).
In 2024, H2Fly is scheduled to open its Hydrogen Aviation Center at Stuttgart airport with the aim of it becoming a benchmark in the European aeronautical industry.
