London Gatwick Hydrogen Hub – an important first step toward possible zero-carbon flights
- Airbus, easyJet, Air Products, and London Gatwick to work together to establish how hydrogen infrastructure – including to fuel new types of aircraft – could be introduced at the airport.
- Airbus is developing new short-haul hydrogen powered aircraft – aiming for them to enter commercial service from 2035.
- London Gatwick is one of several VINCI airports to form a Hydrogen Hub partnership with Airbus.
Airbus, easyJet, London Gatwick, and Air Products - one of the world’s largest hydrogen producers - have today formed the London Gatwick Hydrogen Hub.
The partners will now work together to establish how infrastructure to supply hydrogen – including to fuel new types of aircraft – could be introduced across the airport in an important first step toward possible zero-carbon flights from London Gatwick.
Airbus launched the ‘Hydrogen Hub at Airports’ programme to jumpstart research into infrastructure requirements and low-carbon airport operations. The programme is a prerequisite to support the widespread scale-up and adoption of zero emission hydrogen-powered aircraft, which Airbus aims to bring into commercial service from 2035.
Because early hydrogen-powered aircraft will initially focus on short to medium haul routes, London Gatwick’s position as the UK’s leading hub for these services, along with easyJet’s operational insight as a short haul carrier, makes the London Gatwick Hydrogen Hub an ideal testbed for R&D into this critical support infrastructure.
Under Airbus’ Hydrogen Hubs at Airports framework, the scope of work covers liquid hydrogen supply and storage at the airport, refuelling and ground handling of hydrogen aircraft, as well as the exploration of other, shorter-term opportunities for using hydrogen at London Gatwick.
London Gatwick is part of the VINCI Airports network, the world's leading private airport operator with +70 airports in 14 countries. Following today’s announcement, London Gatwick, Lyon-Saint Exupery, and Kansai have formed Hydrogen Hubs in partnership with Airbus, as part of the VINCI Airports’ decarbonisation strategy to develop carbon-free hydrogen infrastructure.
Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive Officer, London Gatwick, said: “Alongside Sustainable Aviation Fuels, Hydrogen stands out as having real potential to help us decarbonise Scope 3 emissions at the airport, particularly for the short haul aircraft that dominate London Gatwick’s operations. In parallel, we’ve accelerated our plans and aim to be net zero for the emissions we control – Scope 1 and 2 - ten years early, by 2030. We still have a long way to go and a lot of hard work to do, but today’s exciting partnership is an important early step toward reaching our net zero ambitions.”
Airbus Vice President ZEROe Project Glenn Llewellyn said: “Our licence to operate hinges on finding better ways to fly. We know hydrogen has the versatility to be an excellent fuel source for decarbonising the industry. We’ve set ambitious targets to fly on hydrogen by 2035 and this technology needs to be supported by reliable and tested infrastructure. Sharing knowledge and best practice at airports will be critical for building the right hydrogen ecosystem around the world and we look forward to working with all consortium members to develop the support for the technology and end-to-end hydrogen supply chain that will power future flight.”
David Morgan, Chief Operating Officer, easyJet, said: “Hydrogen is going to play an important role in decarbonising aviation, so we need to lay the groundwork now to make that happen. The Gatwick hub is another positive signal and demonstrates the industry’s intent to both adapt and work together to reach the common goal of decarbonising aviation. Combined with support from regulators and policymakers, I’ve no doubt that projects like this will act as the building blocks to prepare UK airports for a hydrogen transition – something that will be critical to achieving our net zero ambitions.”
Suzanne Lowe, Vice President and General Manager, United Kingdom, Ireland, Israel and Italy, Air Products, said: “We’re incredibly pleased to contribute Air Products’ decades of experience producing and distributing hydrogen to this exciting project. The Hydrogen Hubs at Airports framework is an important milestone in paving the way for sustainable aviation and future proofing the UK economy. Air Products is committed to helping the UK become a global leader in low carbon hydrogen production. We look forward to collaborating with our partners and government leaders on this project and to unlock further investments in renewable hydrogen. These include our plans for a large-scale renewable hydrogen facility in Immingham.”
Notes to editors
Airbus launched the “Hydrogen Hub at Airports'' programme to promote the further expansion of hydrogen infrastructure in aviation. To date, agreements have been signed with partners and airports in 13 countries including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Further information about hydrogen in aviation can be found at the following link.
With 41 million annual passengers, London Gatwick is the UK’s second largest and one of Europe’s top ten airports. It is a vital piece of national infrastructure that drives both the national and regional economies by generating £5.5 billion GVA and supporting over 76,000 jobs (2023). Almost 60 airlines fly from the airport to over 150 short-haul and more than 50 long-haul destinations. With a declared capacity of 55 movements an hour, London Gatwick is the most efficient single runway airport in the world.
The airport is located 28 miles south of the UK capital and is extremely well-connected, with more than a quarter of England’s population (15 million people) – including all of London – less than one hour away by road or rail. A six-year, £2 billion sustainable growth programme includes an ambitious plan to be a net zero airport by 2030 and to increase capacity by bringing the airport’s existing Northern Runway into routine use, alongside its Main Runway. Vinci Airports owns a 50.01% stake in the airport, with Global Infrastructure Partners managing the remaining 49.99%.
The world’s leading private airport operator, VINCI Airports operates more than 70 airports in 13 countries. Thanks to its expertise as a global integrator, VINCI Airports develops, finances, builds and manages airports by providing its investment capacity and its know-how in optimizing operational performance, modernizing infrastructure and managing their operations and environmental transition. VINCI Airports is the first airport operator to have committed to an international environmental strategy in 2016, to achieve the goal of net zero emissions across its entire network by 2050.
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