SHORT-HAUL giant Easyjet has partnered with aviation engineering giant Rolls-Royce on what the two firms describe as a "groundbreaking" effort to reduce emissions in aviation.

The firms will work on the development of hydrogen combustion engine technology capable of powering a range of aircraft. Easyjet will directly invest in a testing programme which will begin in the UK later this year.

Easyjet CEO Johan Lundgren said yesterday: "The technology that emerges from this programme has the potential to power Easyjet-size aircraft, which is why we will also be making a multi-million pound investment into this programme. In order to achieve decarbonisation at scale, progress on the development of zero emission technology for narrow-body aircraft is crucial."

Developing sustainable aviation fuel is considered one of the key milestones on the way to so-called 'jet zero', due to the high emissions created by the aviation industry as it currently stands, and is a hot topic at the Farnborough Air Show this year.

The two companies said their project - H2ZERO - would attempt to demonstrate that hydrogen combustion engines could become reality by the middle of the next decade.

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper