Hamburg Airport (HAM), Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTHA), Rotterdam The Hague Innovation Airport and Hamburg Aviation have announced a new collaboration at the Paris Air Show to explore the viability of a hydrogen flight route between Hamburg and Rotterdam.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) also covers a broader cooperation to develop hydrogen infrastructure and to contribute to the creation of relevant industry standards. Using 2026 as a guideline date for a maiden flight on a Hamburg-Rotterdam hydrogen flight route, the signatories envision commercial flights between RTHA and HAM in the future.
Developing technologies
The agreement also encourages cooperation on other technologies such as digitised airports and aviation, renewable energy production, infrastructure, advanced training and smart airport technology.
Michael Eggenschwiler, CEO Hamburg Airport, said, “We have set ourselves the goal of reducing our fossil CO2 emissions to zero in 12 years with the climate protection programme Net Zero 2035 – as the first major commercial airport in Germany. Part of this strategy is to enable ‘green’ flying together with other cooperation partners as soon as possible, among other things with hydrogen-based technologies. Here, the planned hydrogen flight route between Hamburg and Rotterdam is a very good example of how strong partners join forces to develop and implement sustainable aviation using a practical example.”
Collaboration
Wilma van Dijk, CEO of Rotterdam The Hague Airport, added, “By sharing our increasing expertise on hydrogen infrastructure and operations together with our innovation field lab, the parties involved are working together in an optimal way to accelerate the energy transition in the aviation sector. We are therefore extremely proud to be part of this collaboration in which we will facilitate the first hydrogen flight between Rotterdam and Hamburg in just a few years.”
“This collaboration is an important step to decarbonize the aviation sector and scale up hydrogen-powered aircraft,” commented Miranda Janse, director at Rotterdam The Hague Innovation Airport foundation. “We are making the first step in turning ideas and plans into real action, by enabling an operational corridor for hydrogen.”
