Austrian Airlines has completed a pilot test that could pave the way for hydrogen-powered aircraft maintenance work.
During the pilot test at Vienna Airport, Austrian used an H2Genset hydrogen generator from Test-Fuchs along with a frequency converter from Dynell to supply emission-free power supply for an Airbus A320 while it carried out regular maintenance tasks on the aircraft. According to the airline, this type of maintenance is typically carried out in the hangar with ground support electrical power.
Austrian says this hydrogen-powered option saves around 30 kg of CO2 per hour compared to diesel-powered energy supply. The airline estimates that it could save around 60,000 kg of CO2 annually by using this system an average of 5.5 hr. per day.
Austrian plans to continue testing the technology at its Vienna hub, and the project partners want to use the pilot project to build expertise and familiarization with the necessary infrastructure for hydrogen-powered mobile energy supply.
To further reduce emissions, Austrian's maintenance department has ordered three electrical ground power units. It is also using more sustainable cleaning techniques, such as Test-Fuchs' Waliclean system for waste line cleaning and Water Separator WSS4 to reduce water content from hydraulic fluids and avoid hydraulic waste.
Austrian is also equipping four of its Boeing 777-200ERs with Lufthansa Technik's friction-reducing AeroSHARK film to improve fuel consumption and reduce CO2 emissions. The airline plans to finalize application of AeroSHARK by the first quarter of 2025, and it expects the technology to save more than 8,600 metric tons of CO2.