For Waldo Cerdan, aformer airline pilot specialized in matters of safety and carbon strategy in air transport, this hydrogen flight does not represent progress in terms of green aviation: “it is not a breakthrough for the simple and good reason that hydrogen is not a source of energy but an energy vector that must be produced. Today, 90% of hydrogen production is made from methane and is therefore absolutely not green.”
The expert is however delighted to see that manufacturers are implementing new features, but he wonders whether this is possible: “There is a difference between what they can technically do and the application of their discovery in the aviation sector.“
On the other side, Patrick Hendrick, professor at the Polytechnic School of Brussels and head of the ATM Aero Thermo Mechanics department has a slightly more positive opinion. Indeed, planes have already flown with hydrogen and this technology has been known for more than 10 years. However, according to him, the Lightning McClean is an aircraft to take as an example in order to follow this path for the next few years.
