The plane flew nearly 10,000km without refueling

The Aviation Technology Institute (ATI) announced on December 6 the design of a hydrogen-powered medium-sized long-haul aircraft with a range of more than 9,700km.

The new aircraft design is part of the FlyZero initiative, with government and private funding, to develop zero-emissions air transport. In addition to the medium-sized model, FlyZero's partners also proposed a narrow-body aircraft design using liquid hydrogen.

The design of the FlyZero zero-emission passenger plane.

ATI did not disclose when hydrogen planes will be on the market or whether the technology it has developed in the 12-month FlyZero project has any other uses. However, the organization believes that hydrogen-powered passenger aircraft will be commercially viable by the mid-2030s, in line with Airbus' plans to bring non-zero aircraft to market.

Details released by ATI include the wing without a fuel tank, a cryogenic liquid hydrogen tank, a fuel cell, an electrical system and a hydrogen gas turbine. According to the announcement, the medium-sized aircraft will have a wingspan of 54 meters and a pair of turbofan engines that draw energy directly from the combustion of hydrogen. Hydrogen will be stored in two frozen fuel tanks in the rear fuselage and two smaller tanks in the front fuselage to maintain balance.

From London, the plane can fly directly to cities such as San Francisco, Delhi, Beijing, Vancouver, Mexico City, and Rio de Janeiro. ATI hopes the vehicle will be able to operate at speeds comparable to current passenger planes.

The FlyZero project team consists of approximately 100 experts from a variety of companies including Airbus, Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, Spirit AeroSystems, GE Aviation, Reaction Engines, NATS, EasyJet, and Eaton. According to ATI, the FlyZero design is mainly to support the introduction of technology, towards achieving the long-term goals of zero-carbon flying.