Enabling Future Hydrogen-Powered Flight: An Airport Compatibility and Hydrogen Infrastructure Perspective

Hydrogen-powered aircraft are poised to emerge in the next coming decades and start operating from existing airports and heliports. This paper assesses how key hydrogen aircraft design features interact with the ground infrastructure and how facility designers can address hydrogen-specific facility requirements. Airport design should maximize compatibility with the aircraft serving the market intended to be served in order to facilitate the accommodation of the said aerial vehicles, minimize the need for future modifications, and promote safety and operational efficiency. Considerations should be given to factors such as general aircraft configuration, electric and hybrid propulsion systems, and the refueling infrastructure. The definition of notional aircraft concepts representing the potential evolution of critical hydrogen aircraft toward mid-century and beyond can help aviation facility planners and designers understand the challenges ahead, plan for the right size of aircraft, and also evaluate the future hydrogen demand. The lack of aviation-specific standards, especially when it comes to fire prevention, could adversely impact airport development and future aircraft compatibility. Strategies are proposed for mitigating the effects of hydrogen operations at space-constrained facilities.