Parked in a corner of the sprawling site in Toulouse that is home to Airbus, Europe’s aerospace champion, is the first A380. Originally used as a test jet for the world’s largest passenger airliner, it is set to fly again as part of efforts to tackle aviation’s decarbonisation challenge.
The superjumbo is being modified to test a hydrogen-propelled engine. Inside its cavernous interior, stacks of hard drives have been installed to collect data during test flights, while engineers will be able to monitor progress from a row of computers in the middle of the lower deck.
The converted demonstrator jet will fly with its usual four engines but will have a fifth that is adapted for hydrogen. Airbus aims to start flight tests by the end of 2026 as part of an ambitious pledge to bring a zero-emissions aircraft into service by 2035. The A380’s large size makes it ideal to house all the necessary test equipment, but the technology is likely to be deployed to a much smaller commercial plane.