Airbus and the Hydrogen Horizon (A): Innovation and Sustainability in Aviation - The Genesis of Change

In 2022, the aviation industry committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. A year earlier, Airbus had announced it was developing the world’s first hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft that would be launched in 2035.
Case A looks at how Airbus tackled the issue of climate change with hydrogen - one of several paths. Its first three hydrogen-based aircraft concepts were revealed under project ZEROe, taking a new approach to achieving hydrogen-powered flying.
The commitment to a 15-year plan was a bold move and a strategic risk, but Airbus was determined to pioneer the decarbonisation of the aviation industry. However, this implied the transformation of the entire ecosystem. The challenges confronting Airbus and whether the market would accept these concepts are the main issues for discussion.
Case B is an update on the project, based on a press release in March 2025. Airbus announced it was revising its roadmap to pioneer a new future for commercial aviation. It remained committed to bring to market a viable hydrogen-powered aircraft, albeit later than the initial 2035 goal.

After studying the case, students should be able to:
-Analyse the environmental implications of how the aviation industry operates. Assess aviation emissions and evaluate sustainable alternatives such as hydrogen technology and Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs), assessing their potential to mitigate climate change.
-Analyse market dynamics, competition, and the stakeholder engagement necessary for the adoption of radically innovative solutions.
-Apply design thinking and agile methodologies to create profoundly new and complex innovative solutions that are desired by the market, technological feasible, and economically viable.
-Understand the need to create an ecosystem in which new technologies enable the required industry transformation for addressing the energy challenge in environmental sustainability.