Madrid, 25 January 2023 (AESA)

The Secretary of State for Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Isabel Pardo de Vera, today signed a general protocol of actions with ten institutions and companies in the air and energy sector, including AESA, to promote the use of green hydrogen in aviation and promote the decarbonisation of the air sector. Thus, with the rubric of the agreement, the Alliance for the Use of Green Hydrogen in Aviation was born, a union to articulate the mechanisms of cooperation and coordination between the members to deploy and consolidate hydrogen as the energy carrier of air transport.

During the signing and presentation of the Alliance, the Secretary of State was accompanied by the Secretary General of Transport and Mobility, María José Rallo, the Director General of Civil Aviation, David Benito, and representatives of the other members of the organisation, such as the director of the State Aviation Safety Agency, Montserrat Mestres, or Silvia Lazcano, spokesperson of the Alliance and president of the Spanish Aerospace Technology Platform (PAE).

During her speech, the Secretary of State highlighted the important role that green hydrogen will play in the decarbonisation of aviation and air transport, an important sector for the Spanish economy and connectivity.

“It is a huge personal and institutional satisfaction to sign this protocol, a collaborative instrument that should allow us to undertake jointly a whole series of activities to promote the deployment of green hydrogen in aviation and air transport. And this at a time when everyone’s effort is essential to realise the dream of a decarbonised society, in which green hydrogen is called to play a fundamental role, of which aviation and air transport should not, nor can, be left aside,” said Pardo de Vera.

Air transport is a strategic sector for Spain, generating progress and economic and cultural wealth, which is configured as a key mode of transport to ensure the connectivity and cohesion of our territories, especially the islands and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

Thus, as Pardo de Vera recalled, it is an essential catalyst for tourism in Spain. Of the 84 million international tourists who arrived in our country before COVID-19, 82 % did so by air and stressed that Spain is the second world tourist destination, thanks, among others, to a solid air sector, capable of managing an enormous volume of visitors.

The Alliance

The Alliance is formed by Mitma, Aena, AESA, the Spanish Association of Oil Products Operators (AOP), the Association of Air Lines (ALA), the National Hydrogen Center (CNH2), GASNAM, the National Institute of Aerospace Technique (INTA), the Spanish Hydrogen Technology Platform, the Spanish Association of Defense, Security, Aeronautics and Space Technologies (TEDAE) and the Spanish Aerospace Technology Platform (PAE).

The objective of the signed protocol is to establish the terms of the collaboration to determine the needs of development, production, storage and distribution of green hydrogen for aviation in Spain, as well as the research and development of solutions or the exchange of information between the different actors involved in this wide ecosystem.

Among the various collaborative activities that this protocol will facilitate are:

• the establishment of roadmaps,
• the organisation of meeting forums and congresses,
• preparation of positioning and dissemination documents,
• the identification of projects,
• dissemination of the activities promoted by the Alliance.  

It is an impetus to articulate mechanisms of cooperation and coordination among all members of the Alliance to identify and promote solutions to reconcile the needs of green hydrogen supply and demand in air transport and aviation in the medium and long term.