Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Transport Winfried Hermann praised the achievements of the minds be-hind Hy4: “Air traffic must become more climate-friendly as fast as possible. With the Hy4, the worldwide unique hydrogen fuel cell aircraft, science is presenting a promising technology for emission-free flights. With this expertise, Baden-Württemberg is a pioneer in the field of hydrogen and fuel cell technology in global competition”.
Walter Schoefer, management spokesman of Stuttgart Airport, said: “We are project sponsor since day one. Therefore, we are particularly pleased that Stuttgart Airport is hosting the Hy4 and its team. The work on emission-free flights is making considerable progress with this project. To protect the climate, we must con-tinue to enforce the development of aviation technology and its market launch.” In order to accelerate the transformation to carbon-neutral air traffic, the airport supported research on Hy4 and its predecessors with a total of nearly one million euros. Besides the airport, the Hy4 project receives support by the NOW GmbH, the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, the German Federal Ministry for Eco-nomic Affairs and Energy and the European Commission.
“A project like Hy4 is only feasible if a whole team of specialists works together,” Josef Kallo, professor at the University of Ulm and head of the Hy4 project, explains. “Now we can look at larger systems: in the next decade, first air-taxis for four passengers, then small airplanes for up to 19 persons and finally regional traffic with engines for up to 40 passengers and a range of 2,000 kilometres will be possible”. The University of Ulm, H2FLY GmbH and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) worked on the current powertrain as core partners. They were supported by Cummins from Canada, Pipistrel from Slovenia and Diehl Aerospace.