The German group Lufthansa, through its maintenance company, has announced that it will transfer an Airbus A320 jet that has long flown with passengers to be transformed into a hydrogen testing laboratory. The idea for the aircraft’s second life is that it boost research on future engines that should equip commercial aviation.
The plane chosen in this first stage has registration D-AIQF and was produced in 1991 for Lufthansa and retired in 2020. For a while, between 2014 and 2017, it flew for Germanwings, another company of the German group. In total, there were 29 years of services provided to passenger transport.
As the next steps in the project, the aircraft will be equipped with a liquid hydrogen tank and a fuel cell to serve as a test bench for research. Inside, the aircraft will house a laboratory to study maintenance, repair and handling processes for future hydrogen-powered aircraft.
The development is a joint project between Lufthansa Technik, the German Aerospace Center, the ZAL Center for Applied Aeronautical Research, in addition to the Airport and the City of Hamburg. The city also hosts an Airbus assembly line for the A320 family and wants to be recognized for its commitment to sustainable practices.
Initially, testing will take place on a relatively small scale. Over the next few months, the partners will test the effects of Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) in selected processes and on the ground, and then expand the use of hydrogen on board and in flight.
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