Federal Transport Minister Schnieder: Important step for hydrogen-based aviation

Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder praised the H2Sky collaborative project as an important step towards hydrogen-based air transport at a closing event in Dettingen an der Erms on March 26, 2026. Under the consortium leadership of Aerostack GmbH, a fuel cell stack specifically for use in aviation was developed and successfully demonstrated

Federal Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder: “Climate-friendly mobility will be successful where innovation and competitiveness go hand in hand. Hydrogen plays a key role in aviation. Projects like H2Sky impressively demonstrate that inventiveness and technology ‘Made in Germany’ directly lead to progress on the path to low-emission air transport.”

H2Sky received approximately €26.5 million in funding from the German Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) as part of the National Innovation Programme for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP) and is one of the most comprehensive projects for the development of hydrogen-based fuel cell technologies for aviation in Germany. The project aimed to develop an aviation-grade fuel cell stack, taking into account the stringent aviation requirements for power density, efficiency, reliability, and service life. The NIP is coordinated by NOW GmbH and implemented by the Project Management Agency Jülich (PtJ).

Dagmar Fehler, CEO and spokesperson of NOW GmbH: “On behalf of the German Federal Government, we support projects from research to the threshold of implementation. H2Sky is one of our best examples of how impact-oriented funding strengthens partnerships, addresses development risks, and creates the conditions for technological development to become marketable solutions.”

The project was implemented as a consortium effort led by Aerostack GmbH. Other partners include EKPO Fuel Cell Technologies GmbH, Hahn-Schickard, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, the Technical University of Munich, the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg, and the University of Freiburg.

Dr. Torsten Stengel, CEO of Aerostack GmbH: “In the H2Sky project, we were able to further develop fuel cell technology specifically for the requirements of aviation and significantly increase its technological maturity. The results provide a solid foundation for further development steps to prepare the technology for market readiness.”

Aerostack GmbH is a joint venture between Airbus and Elring Klinger for the development and commercialization of fuel cells for civil aviation.

Projects like H2Sky lay the foundation for developing measures to systematically build a technological and industrial base for climate-friendly propulsion solutions in air transport. The use of hydrogen and fuel cell technology in aviation is seen as having significant medium- to long-term potential for defossilizing the transport sector.

Source:  Fuel Cells Works