Airbus touts sustainable fuel after promoting hydrogen

Airbus SE will buttress its moonshot plan to build a hydrogen aircraft by the middle of the next decade with an effort to power conventional jets with sustainable fuels.

Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury said Tuesday that he’s confident the European planemaker can bring a hydrogen plane into service by 2035. In the meantime, Airbus will work to increase the amount of sustainable aviation fuel that can be used in its engines, with a goal of reaching 100% from the current 50%.

“I’d like to correct a misunderstanding,” Faury said at an online event hosted by Eurocontrol, which manages the region’s air traffic. “We’re not saying it’s hydrogen and its not sustainable fuels. It’s both, and on the contrary, in the very short term, sustainable aviation fuels will definitely play a very important role.”