Alliance for Zero-Emission Aviation holds 5th General Assembly

29 January 2025: This week, the Alliance for Zero-Emission Aviation (AZEA) gathered at EUROCONTROL in Brussels for its 5th General Assembly. Nearly 100 participants were in attendance.

This week’s General Assembly notably included the presentation of the Work Plan for the 2025–26 period, identifying new areas of interest as well as activities to support the rollout of hydrogen-powered and electric flights in Europe.

DG DEFIS, the leading DG of the European Commission, presented the expected outcome of an AZEA roadmap for 2025, which will be carried out by an external consultant. This roadmap will be key as it will guide the Commission on bringing zero-emission aircraft to industrial and commercial reality.

The Alliance’s Working Groups also provided updates on their ongoing activities and on the progress on their deliverables, including the recently adopted Standardisation Gap Report.

ERA is proud to be a member of this important Alliance, along with several member companies in their own right. We are committed to working together with all stakeholders to making zero-emission aviation a reality, and to enabling regional aviation to be a trailblazer of new technology. 

11 June 2024: At the aerospace exhibition ILA Berlin, the Alliance for Zero-Emission Aviation (AZEA) presented a report on its vision for enabling hydrogen and electricity-powered aircraft, showing aviation’s determination to invest in new technologies with the aim to become more sustainable.

The vision sets the objective of having 36 to 68% per cent of intra-EU flights operated by such hydrogen- and electricity-powered aircraft by 2050 and how they would progressively enter and expand in the market. According to the report, the total renewable and low carbon energy required to operate those flights in 2050 (excluding SAF production) is estimated to 78 to 198TWh/y of electricity used either for the propulsion of electric aircraft or for the production of 1.2 to 2.9Mt/y hydrogen required by hydrogen aircraft, which would correspond to 1.1 to 2.8 per cent of the gross electricity generation foreseen by 2050. 

The Alliance estimates that aircraft powered by hydrogen or electricity could reduce aviation CO2 emissions on intra-EU routes by 12 to 31 per cent in 2050. 

On the other hand, the report acknowledges the barriers and challenges that the industry will encounter to make electric and hydrogen aircraft fly. Indeed, AZEA looks for more collaboration in the aviation ecosystem to make this vision document a reality.

25 May 2023: The third meeting of AZEA Steering Committee, chaired by DG DEFIS took place on the 24 May.

Some new members have joined the Alliance: 15 applications have been accepted between 1 March and 15 May. AZEA now has 139 members and represents a wide variety of stakeholders, but still lacks representatives from the production/distribution of electricity. During the Steering Committee meeting, the Working Group’s chairs presented their progress and discussed possible deliverables for the upcoming General Assembly.

The second AZEA General Assembly is to be organised at the Paris Air Show on the 19 June. Some 150 participants are confirmed, and a reminder will be sent, along with the agenda, in early June. The first concrete deliverables and results that can be showcased to the public and media will be presented during the General Assembly in the presence of Commissioner Breton.

A draft agenda for the General Assembly was presented and discussed during the meeting. It is important to highlight that AZEA not only supports the entry into service of aircraft to replace existing fleets but also creating opportunities for new green air mobility offers developed by a large number of AZEA members, and provide information about next steps of the Alliance.

A progress report is to be drafted by members of the Alliance to present AZEA achievements for AZEA members and broader public. The Steering Committee’s Support Group will also investigate possible actions on financing.

Rules on the use of visual references to AZEA and the right to representation was presented to the meeting by DG-DEFIS, to be adopted. The aim is to promote the visibility of AZEA and the pride of being a member by encouraging the use of the logo and communication about it while defining minimum rules.

As decision body of the Alliance, the Steering Committee is responsible of ensuring the Alliance delivers on its objectives and produces real impact. The contribution of the Steering Committee is expected at two levels: strategic guidance through the members of the Steering Committee, and operational support through the setting up of the Support Group is foreseen in the rules of procedures.

2 May 2023: The second meeting of AZEA Steering Committee, chaired by DG DEFIS took place on the 8 March. The purpose of the meeting was to finalise the setting-up of the six first WGs, agree on a monitoring approach, discuss the first deliverables, and start looking into next steps. The minutes from the meeting are now available.

The second meeting of AZEA Steering Committee (SC) was also the first to meet in full format as the Working Group (WG) Chairs have now joined the SC, without bringing any new organisation. The roles are different as the members appointed by organisation selected by the EC represent a group of stakeholders, while the chairs represent their WG. As decision body of the Alliance, the Steering Committee is responsible of ensuring the Alliance delivers on its objectives and produces real impact. The contribution of the SC is expected at two levels: Strategic guidance through the members of the SC, and operational support through the setting up of the Support Group foreseen in the rules of procedures. AZEA now represents 125 members, a wide variety of stakeholders, but still lacks of representatives from the production/distribution of electricity, and from financial organisations.

Main achievements of AZEA so far:

• Organisation of the first General Assembly in presence of Commissioner Breton, aligning stakeholders behind a common goal to enable the transition to net-zero aviation.
• Launch of six Working Groups

The second General Assembly is to be organised at the Paris Air Show and must deliver the first concrete deliverables and results that can be showcased to the public and media.

The WGs’ chairs presented their mandates, previously co-ordinated between the WGs, as well as the milestones and deliverables to be adopted by the SC to monitor the progress of the Alliance:

WG1: Based on the roll-out of technologises, energy requirements will be identified. Four work packages and a plan to deliver some results for Paris Air Show has been set.

WG2 : Identification of infrastructure and related investments to produce and bring the required energy at airports will be identified. Guidelines to help airports with their strategy will be issued.

WG3: Identification of infrastructure requirements at airports and related investments, identification of barriers and opportunities for airports and its environment. Draft scenarios are to be presented at the next GA.

WG4: Identification of gabs in EASA regulatory framework, facilitation of certification of zero-emission aircraft and identification of standardisation gaps to provide input for the EASA/EC regulatory agenda. First deliverables are expected by June 2023.

WG5: Ensure an efficient integration of zero-emission aircraft into the network and support WG6 in the evaluation of the incentive mechanisms such as slot allocation, modulation of charges etc. As improvements to the original mandate, development of a Concept of Operations to be available in June 2023, has been added.

WG6: Identification of necessary incentives to promote adaptation of electric/hydrogen aircraft, stimulate investments, but also changes needed in the ecosysteme and their entry into service. This WG lacks a cargo operator. Final report is to be expected by end 2024 as close coordination with the other WGs is needed.

Support group:

As foreseen by the SC RoP, the setting-up of a Support Group to support the monitoring of AZEA progress, perform specific tasks for the SC and contribute to the preparation of the GA was addressed. Members are the Sherpa or contact persons at operational levels.

The next meeting of the SC will take place on the 14 May.