The long-range segment of aviation is the only market segment that has no feasible alternatives in terms of other modes of transport. It is in society’s interest to work on long-term solutions to mitigate this segment’s climate impact. Recent research indicates that hydrogen combustion has a high NOx and contrail mitigation potential compared to carbon-based combustion propulsion technologies. Aviation’s long-term focus should include hydrogen combustion as a propulsion option and take the necessary steps to advance the respective technologies. Several options for synergistic components (e.g. cruise speed reduction, laminarization, fuel cell gas turbine hybrids) should be part of the research and need to be sufficiently advanced.
