Innovative aviation liquid hydrogen project launched

22.05.2024 - 11:57 / traveldailynews.com / Theodore Koumelis

Airbus collaborates with industry leaders on the GOLIAT project to advance liquid hydrogen refueling and ground operations for aviation, aiming to decarbonize medium-haul flights and enhance Europe’s energy independence.

BRUSSELS – An innovative aviation hydrogen handling and refuelling project, led by Airbus and supported by academic partners, airport operators and leading hydrogen-industry companies, has been launched to demonstrate small-scale liquid hydrogen aircraft ground operations at three European airports.

The urge to decarbonise our economy and to develop Europe’s energy independence is leading to a major trend of hydrogen for mobility and stationary applications. Hydrogen will also be a solution to decarbonise short- and medium-haul aviation and will be crucial for the advancement of low-carbon aviation operations.

“The GOLIAT (Ground Operations of LIquid hydrogen AircrafT)” project will receive funding of €10.8 million from the EU’s Horizon Europe Framework Programme via CINEA, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency. The project duration is four years and it will demonstrate how high-flow liquid hydrogen (LH2) handling and refuelling technologies can be developed and used safely and reliably for airport operations.

The GOLIAT consortium consists of 10 partners from eight countries: Airbus (France, Germany, UK), Chart Industries (Czech Republic, Italy), TU Delft (Netherlands), Leibniz University Hannover (Germany), Royal Schiphol Group (Netherlands), Rotterdam The Hague Airport (Netherlands), Vinci Airports (France, Portugal), Stuttgart Airport (Germany), H2FLY (Germany), and Budapest Airport (Hungary).

The group will support the aviation industry’s adoption of LH2 transportation and energy storage solutions by:

As a clean and efficient fuel, LH2 offers a promising solution for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with airport operations and their dependence on fossil fuels. LH2’s high energy density enables long-range travel for aircraft, yet there are many steps to the widespread deployment of hydrogen at airports, including the need to better understand the operational, regulatory, economic and safety impacts, as well as the capacity and performance of technologies.

GOLIAT Consortium launch.

Karine Guenan, Vice President of ZEROe Ecosystem, Airbus said: “We continue to believe that hydrogen will be an important fuel for the future of short-haul aviation. We welcome the opportunity to help build the operating case for the widespread daily use of liquid hydrogen at airports.” while Josef Kallo, H2FLY commented: “Leveraging our experience in the HEAVEN project, where we completed the world’s first piloted flight of a liquid hydrogen-powered