Newquay’s Open Skies Network strikes hydrogen aviation deal

A trailer packed with hydrogen fuel cell equipment, parked on an industrial estate outside Edinburgh, is an unlikely place to start Cornwall’s next aviation chapter. But that is roughly where it began, when Open Skies Network’s Chief Operating Officer Louis Gardner travelled north to see the technology at Logan’s headquarters in Wallyford, Scotland.

A Memorandum of Understanding

Open Skies Network Ltd and Logan Ltd have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at speeding up the rollout of hydrogen infrastructure for aviation, in support of the UK’s move towards zero-emission flight. Open Skies Network brings its work in Future Flight infrastructure, aviation partnerships and commercial deployment. Logan brings years of experience in hydrogen production, storage, refuelling and integrated energy systems.

Under the agreement, Open Skies Network will use its network of partner locations, airports, aerodromes, aircraft manufacturers and regulators to help identify commercial opportunities for Logan within aviation, including supporting Civil Aviation Infrastructure development and pursuing joint research and demonstration projects. In return, Logan will bring its technical expertise to bear on hydrogen infrastructure at Open Skies Network sites, tailored specifically to the needs of regional aviation. Both companies will also chase public and private investment together, from research funding to commercial projects.

Small airports first, not Heathrow

Most hydrogen aviation efforts so far have concentrated on major commercial airports and liquid hydrogen. This partnership is going the other way. It is built around gaseous hydrogen infrastructure for regional airports, private aerodromes and General Aviation, which the two companies believe is the more realistic route to early adoption as the first hydrogen aircraft start entering service.

Making hydrogen on site

Part of the plan involves looking at how hydrogen could be produced on site, through renewable-powered electrolysis. That would let smaller aerodromes generate their own hydrogen rather than relying on it being trucked in, supporting aircraft refuelling, electric aircraft charging and wider community energy resilience through what the companies describe as integrated hydrogen microgrids.

What comes first

The work will start at Open Skies Network’s early adopter sites in the UK, though both companies frame the ambition as international. The stated goal is a blueprint that can be replicated at regional airports elsewhere in the world, with the UK positioned as a leader in hydrogen aviation infrastructure.

Gareth Whatmore, Chief Executive Officer of Open Skies Network, said hydrogen was one of the biggest opportunities for regional aviation over the coming decades, but that the supporting infrastructure mattered as much as the aircraft themselves. “By partnering with Logan, we are bringing together two organisations with complementary expertise to develop practical, scalable hydrogen infrastructure that can be deployed at Open Skies Network partner aerodrome locations throughout the UK,” he said. “Our ambition is to ensure that hydrogen aviation is not confined to major international airports. We want to demonstrate how smaller aerodromes can safely produce, store and utilise hydrogen, creating a network capable of supporting everything from uncrewed aircraft and Advanced Air Mobility through to regional passenger services.”

Ahmad El-kharouf, Business Development Lead at Logan, called hydrogen a key part of decarbonising aviation. “By combining Logan’s expertise in hydrogen technologies and infrastructure with Open Skies Network’s knowledge of Future Flight programmes and aviation infrastructure, we are well positioned to develop practical solutions that support the next generation of zero-emission aircraft,” he said.

Where Cornwall fits in

The announcement doesn’t name Cornwall once, but Open Skies Network’s own registered office sits at Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay. The company already has a stake in the county’s aviation future too, having signed a separate partnership earlier this year to develop a DronePort and aviation campus at St Merryn Aerodrome, part of the ASONE Park development in north Cornwall.

Nothing in this hydrogen partnership names specific sites yet, and the equipment pictured here was a demonstration unit at Logan’s Wallyford base rather than anything installed in Cornwall. But given where Open Skies Network is based and where its early network is already taking shape, Cornish aerodromes are as good a bet as any for where hydrogen refuelling infrastructure might eventually land.