Airports will soon need to handle liquid hydrogen as aircraft fuel, and this project will test the ground operations and refuelling equipment needed to make that happen safely. Hydrogen-powered aircraft are a major part of the aviation industry’s plan to eliminate CO₂ emissions, but airports currently have no regulatory framework, certified equipment, or operational procedures for handling large quantities of liquid hydrogen on the tarmac. Without this groundwork, hydrogen aircraft cannot enter commercial service. GOLIAT addresses that gap by demonstrating ground operations at three European airports using a small hydrogen aircraft, and by building two physical demonstrators of critical refuelling technologies. If successful, the project will produce the procedures, safety standards, and certification rules that airports and regulators need to integrate hydrogen aircraft into daily operations. It will also provide economic analysis of hydrogen supply chains at airports, helping operators and investors understand the costs and logistics involved. The work directly supports the shift of aviation—a system that quietly moves people and goods worldwide—toward net-zero emissions, without requiring passengers to notice any change in their travel experience.
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Developing aircraft using hydrogen is seen as a major lever to reach net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 and to secure the long-term sustainability of air travel. In order to enable a widespread development of hydrogen aviation, it is essential for airport operators that a future regulatory framework is implemented for the handling of large quantities of hydrogen at airports and that there is a clear understanding of how hydrogen-powered aircraft will be integrated into airport operations and the required changes to current aircraft ground handling operations are known. In parallel to this, and for industrial partners, it is also necessary to develop new ground-handling equipment for hydrogen aircraft, and more specifically liquid hydrogen refuelling equipment that will enable safe and efficient turn around operations. GOLIAT will demonstrate liquid hydrogen aircraft ground operations at three different types of European airports using a small hydrogen operated aircraft allowing the necessary procedures to be developed. It will also, through two demonstrators, showcase several critical technologies needed for future certified high-performance liquid hydrogen refuelling. In parallel, GOLIAT will answer key questions that will lay the foundations for the standardisation and certification framework of future safe hydrogen operations. Indeed, a key output of the project will be the gap analysis of certification rules and requirements for ground operations and equipment. Finally, GOLIAT will also assess the sizing and economics of hydrogen value chains for airports, critical for the competitive development of hydrogen powered aviation. To achieve its goals, GOLIAT reunites technology providers (aircraft manufacturers, liquid hydrogen suppliers, logistics experts, cryogenic component manufacturers and standardisation experts) and academia as well as several European airport operators all of whom will be supported by EASA.
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