On Tuesday, July 7, 2026, European group Airbus SE and Germany’s MTU Aero Engines AG announced that they plan to deepen their cooperation by establishing a joint venture aimed at developing and commercializing a fully electric aircraft engine powered by hydrogen fuel cells. This upcoming milestone follows a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the two companies during the Paris Air Show in June 2025.
Image: Airbus SE
By creating a specialized and highly flexible organizational structure, the partners aim to accelerate technology development, design, testing, and certification of a revolutionary hydrogen fuel cell-based propulsion system for aviation. The new entity will be supported by Airbus and MTU with their full range of expertise and through various engineering and production teams from both organizations.
This non-binding agreement is subject to standard regulatory approvals and the completion of legal processes at European and national levels. The new joint venture is planned to begin operations in 2027.
“Our planned joint venture is the next logical step in our shared vision of a hydrogen-based propulsion concept for aviation,” said Bruno Fichefeux, Head of Future Programmes at Airbus. “By pooling our respective technology and expertise into a dedicated entity, we are establishing a European powerhouse capable of transforming advanced research into industrialised, certifiable electric propulsion systems. This new company will help secure strategic sovereignty in the next generation of aviation technologies while strengthening our ability to achieve the long-term ZEROe ambition.”
“Our ambitious goal is to pave the way for a newly developed, safe, reliable and economical propulsion system that will contribute to climate-neutral aviation,” said Dr. Stefan Weber, SVP Engineering and Technology at MTU Aero Engines. “This project is a crucial milestone on our path to the first hydrogen-powered engine – and this is true European technology leadership. To that end, we want to create a company that covers the entire life cycle of fuel cell powertrains – from development and testing through certification to commercialisation.”
Hydrogen has the potential to play a key role in significantly reducing aviation’s climate impact over the long term and to transform air transport in a way comparable to the impact of electric vehicles on the automotive sector.
The joint venture is driven by the partners’ shared ambition to create a technology leader in this field and deliver the first fuel cell-based propulsion system for a commercial aircraft. It will combine Airbus’ extensive expertise in commercial aircraft programs, significant experience in fuel cell propulsion and liquid hydrogen, with MTU’s long-standing development of fuel cell technologies and recognized expertise in engine design, integration, validation, and certification, as well as maintenance.
Beyond engine technologies, Airbus and MTU will continue to support the development of a hydrogen aviation economy and the associated regulatory framework, which are also key enablers for the large-scale development of hydrogen-powered aviation.
Hydrogen fuel cell technology makes it possible to generate electricity through an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, producing only water vapor as a byproduct. This would eliminate in-flight carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions and contribute to reducing aviation’s climate impact.
In March 2025, Airbus SE announced that it was focusing its efforts on a fully electric propulsion system based on fuel cells. Test results from the fuel cell and propulsion system prototype, as well as studies of complementary technologies such as cryogenics, confirmed the validity of this technology.
MTU Aero Engines AG has reached several important milestones in recent months: the fuel cell design for aviation applications has been refined, production of the stack for the demonstrator has begun, the eMoSys electric motor has been successfully tested for the first time, and the first test cell has been commissioned in Munich.
.@Airbus and MTU Aero Engines to create a joint venture to develop a fully electric hydrogen fuel cell enginehttps://t.co/Jab4UpmEpU pic.twitter.com/rPJZ0BkOcz
— Airbus Newsroom (@AirbusPRESS) July 7, 2026