Singapore Banks on Sustainable Future
Airbus and Singapore's airport and aviation authority will study how to design hydrogen fuel infrastructure at complex airports.

Airbus signed an agreement at the Singapore Airshow yesterday with the host country's aviation and airport authorities to develop a “hydrogen hub” at Changi Airport. Although sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will help satisfy short-term needs, only the use of hydrogen as a fuel will allow for the industry to meet 2050 net zero emissions targets, according to Airbus chief technology officer Sabine Klauke.

The Airbus CTO signed the agreement with Han Kok Juan, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) director-general; Yam Kum Weng, Changi Airport group executive v-p, airport development; and John Panikar, Asia-Pacific executive v-p of gas and engineering company Linde.

Under the agreement, during the next two years Airbus and the MOU partners will study how to build hydrogen infrastructure for aviation, using Changi Airport as the model. “Changi is one of the largest transportation hubs in the world,” Klauke said. “And building zero emissions for the future is a team game.”

CAAS’s Han stressed that only the avenues for ensuring a sustainable future remain a matter of debate. “It’s a question of not when but how," he said. "We’re developing a sustainable hub blueprint. It’s one of the tangible ways to decarbonize. As a hub, we can be a convener to bring together partners. This will require international collaboration and public-private partnerships to make it viable. This MOU demonstrates the commitment we have to one another to develop a model and template not just for us but other outposts around the world.”