With UK aviation expected to need ~13 kt of green hydrogen by 2030 and ~970
kt by 2050, and ATI’s finding that liquid hydrogen is the only fuel capable of
removing meaningful aviation CO₂ at scale, there is a warning that delays in
progressing towards enabling zero-emission flight (ZEF) risk loss of UK market
share and skilled jobs. A national mechanism to coordinate testing, share
data and explore funding options is thus essential to overcome the evident
challenges in the industry of “chicken-and-egg” costs, lack of infrastructure and
supply–demand misalignment in hydrogen deployment.

The UK’s hydrogen-aviation effort is active but disjointed, with no national
programme coordinating R&D, testing and trial infrastructure, resulting in slowing
progress, duplication of efforts and risk of missing the UK’s 5-10 year window
goal to demonstrate viable ZEF. A combined digital coordination tool and
open-access ZEF test hub would provide the missing “holistic view” of stakeholders,
TRLs and delivery status, align projects with complementary programmes, and
turn strong policy signals and funding levers into deliverable trials by 2030. This
approach directly supports zero-emission UK Government’s Clean Energy Mission
and answers the ATI’s Hydrogen Capability Network call for medium-scale LH₂ test
hubs, standards and skills, and connects projects to the Net Zero Hydrogen Fund
and Hydrogen Allocation Rounds (HARS) that underpin an economy projected to
support ~29,000 direct and 64,500 indirect jobs by 2030.

• This report outlines the strategic importance and lists the decarbonisation
  pathways of enabling end-to-end (e2e) hydrogen operations and testing in UK
  aviation, with a focus on supporting ZEF objectives.
• It highlights the need for integrated systems trials within natural regional
  clusters where hydrogen production, infrastructure and aviation routes align.
• The analysis identifies the status for the two hydrogen pathways with both
  gaseous and liquid hydrogen as options and highlights the gaps that need to be
  addressed to develop the systems that will fuel the first ZEF in the UK.
• For each pathway, the report analysed the requirements, solutions and
  delivery mechanisms.

Hydrogen e2e pathways

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