Universal Hydrogen Co has opened its engineering design centre and European headquarters in Toulouse, France. Located in the historic Hangar B16 at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, which was originally built in the 1940s and was first used as a civil hangar for aircraft maintenance before being occupied by Airbus during the development of the Guppy and the Caravelle.
The firm held a special event to mark the occasion, which was attended by industry leaders and dignitaries. Universal Hydrogen also unveiled its newly-liveried ATR 72 test aircraft used for developing the hydrogen retrofit kit and hydrogen module operational handling experiments.
“Toulouse is the cradle of the European aerospace industry and has been an essential element of our talent and partner strategy,” said Paul Eremenko, co-founder and CEO of Universal Hydrogen. “We’re eager to showcase our progress toward decarbonizing aviation.”
“The EU has taken a leading role in developing hydrogen as a near-term decarbonization option for transport applications, including aviation,” said Pierre Farjounel, General Manager Europe of Universal Hydrogen. “This is one of the main reasons we chose to have a significant EU footprint for Universal Hydrogen and we are keen to leverage Toulouse’s historical role as a leader in aerospace innovation to position the region as a leading hub in climate tech.”
