Airbus has scaled back plans to flight test a hydrogen-fueled auxiliary power unit (APU) aboard a modified A330-200 in favour of ground tests of the system.
Unveiled at last year’s Paris air show, the HyPower project foresaw flights tests of the hydrogen APU by the end of 2025 on an airframe to be acquired by the company’s UpNext innovations arm which is leading the effort.
But speaking to FlightGlobal on 23 July, Sabine Klauke, Airbus chief technology officer, said the programme has since been revised and “we will not fly it”.
“We are actually putting it on ground test, so that’s working well forward and we will finalise it next year.”
She says the “extensive ground tests” will take place at its site in Madrid, using two A330 rear sections for integration testing.
Klauke justifies the change as “most of the learnings are on the ground”, alongside regulatory challenges impacting the project’s timing.
It would also “bring us too far into the same area where we already have the bigger demonstrators flying,” she says.
Airbus and CFM International have previously announced plans to fly a hydrogen-powered GE Aerospace Passport engine aboard the airframer’s A380 testbed.
