Key players in the Australian aviation like Stralis Aircraft, Skytrans Airlines, Brisbane Airport, Gladstone Airport, Aviation Australia and the Central Queensland University and green hydrogen industries have launched the Hydrogen Flight Alliance (HFA) at Brisbane Airport with an aim to aid Australian aviation’s transition towards net-zero by 2050.
The first step is to enable Australia’s first commercial emission free hydrogen powered flight between Brisbane Airport and Gladstone Airport in 2026. The flight will be operated by Skytrans Airlines using a 15 seat Stralis B1900D-HE aircraft, designed and built in Brisbane. The only emissions from the tailpipe of this aircraft will be water vapour.
Stralis Aircraft will begin flight testing their hydrogen electric powered 6 seat Beechcraft Bonanza demonstrator aircraft in early 2024. These flights will occur in South East Queensland, allowing the alliance to gain real world experience operating and refueling hydrogen aircraft.
Brisbane is planning for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games to be a climate positive event and the HFA is working to enable the vision of athletes being flown around Queensland during the games on locally built emission free aircraft.
