Fly from Europe to Australia in only 4 hours and 15 minutes!

New hydrogen engine technology being developed by Destinus could allow an aircraft to fly from Europe to Australia in only 4 hours and 15 minutes.

CDTI, the Spanish Centre for Technological Development and Innovation, has selected Destinus for its Aeronautical Technology Plan (PTA) project. The company has received €12 million to develop the first hydrogen-powered aircraft engine and promote the development of supersonic hydrogen-fuelled flights.

The money given for the research and development of the engine comes from the European Commission’s Next Generation funds for the Spanish government, as reported on Thursday, March 30, by 20minutos.es.

Davide Bonetti, CEO of Destinus Spain and vice president of business and product development for the brand, explained that this investment shows that they are aligned: “with the strategic lines of Spain and Europe to advance in the flight of hydrogen”.

Destinus already has two hydrogen prototypes – Jungfrau and Eiger – and is currently working on a gas turbine equipped with a hydrogen afterburner to be tested before the middle of this year. As Bonetti explained, the grant for “pure technology companies” like Destinus is important, as it accelerates the innovation required to “be competitive on a global scale”.

Specifically, the aid from the Spanish government will be used for the design and construction of a test bench for engines with hydrogen as fuel. The final result will be used for their own planes that also use said fuel.

With current planes, the journey from Europe to Australia takes approximately 20 hours. However, Destinus calculated that with its hydrogen aerial vehicles, it would be possible to fly from Frankfurt in Germany to Sydney, Australia, in just 4 hours and 15 minutes. As a result, flights that currently take almost a day could eventually be made in less than a quarter of a day.