Airbus has revised the plan for its first hydrogen aircraft and now aims to debut a regional propeller design powered by fuel cells sometime in the 2040s. The update was shared last week at a media event in Toulouse, France.

Lars Wagner, head of Airbus' Commercial Aircraft business, said the first ZEROe plane is slated to have roughly 80 seats and a range of about 1,000 nautical miles. He said the company plans to flight test a 20-seat aircraft before scaling up to the 80-seat design.

Airbus chose hydrogen fuel cells over direct liquid-hydrogen combustion because combustion produces nitrogen oxides and contributes to contrail formation, while storing liquid hydrogen aboard an aircraft presents design challenges. Wagner described the 80-seat aircraft as the company's entry into the zero-emission market.

The shift marks the latest change to the ZEROe program, which launched in late 2020 with a goal of flying a larger passenger airliner in 2035. Airbus already backed off that 2035 target last year, and in July announced a joint venture with MTU Aero Engines to develop a hydrogen fuel-cell engine.

Source: Aerospace America