Ground-breaking airport hydrogen trial next critical step on journey to achieving zero emission aviation

• Project Acorn is the first airside hydrogen refuelling trial ever to take place at a major UK airport
• Hydrogen has been used to refuel and power critical parts of easyJet’s ground operation at Bristol Airport, demonstrating hydrogen can be safely and reliably used in place of other fuels in an airport
• The data and insight gathered will be used to create the first ever safety guidance and inform the creation of the regulatory framework
• Critically, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has played an active role in the trial as an independent reviewer of the safety case
• The trial also aims to accelerate the use of hydrogen in aviation and across other industries

A ground-breaking airside hydrogen refuelling trial, led by easyJet and supported by several cross-industry partners, has been successfully completed at Bristol Airport – the first airport trial of its kind at a major UK airport.

Hydrogen was used to refuel and power ground support equipment (GSE) – specifically, baggage tractors – servicing easyJet passenger aircraft. Conducted as part of the airline’s daily operations, the trial demonstrates that the gas can be safely and reliably used to refuel ground equipment in the busy, live airport environment.

The trial, dubbed Project Acorn, was in development for over a year and involved many other leading organisations from across aviation, engineering, logistics and academia. These include Cranfield Aerospace Solutions, Cranfield University, Connected Places Catapult (CPC), DHL Supply Chain, Fuel Cell Systems, the IAAPS research institute, Jacobs, Mulag and TCR.

The group intends to use the outputs of the trial to help develop industry best practice standards, provide guidance to airports, airlines, local authorities and regulators on required infrastructure changes, and support the development of a regulatory framework for hydrogen’s use on an airfield – standards which, due to hydrogen’s nascency in aviation, do not currently exist.

The data and insights gathered will also feed into research that groups like Hydrogen in Aviation (HIA)* are conducting to ensure UK infrastructure, regulatory and policy changes keep pace with the technological developments in carbon-emission free flying. It also supports the work and ambitions of other bodies such as Hydrogen South West (HSW) and the Hydrogen Innovation Initiative (HII), the latter having also co-funded the project.

David Morgan, Chief Operating Officer at easyJet, said:   “It’s without doubt that hydrogen will be an important fuel of the future for short-haul aviation, as demonstrated by the rate of innovation we’re seeing.

While the technology is advancing at an exciting pace, as hydrogen isn’t used in commercial aviation today, there is currently no regulatory guidance in place on how it can and should be used, and so trials like this are very important in building the safety case and providing critical data and insight to inform the development of the industry’s first regulatory framework. This will ensure regulation not only keeps pace with innovation, but importantly also supports the industry in meeting its decarbonisation targets by 2050.”

Tim Johnson, Director for Strategy, Policy and Communications at the Civil Aviation Authority, comments:

“Projects such as this are cornerstones of our commitment to support innovation and decarbonisation in the industry.

This trial will serve as the basis of a White Paper which we will also be contributing to, as well as allow for the creation of further safety guidance and regulatory standards for the use of hydrogen in aviation. 

We look forward to helping nurture this seed of the future greener aviation sector as it continues to grow.”

The UK's worst ranked airports for cancellations.....

UK’s airports ranked on performance ahead of summer holidays

220m passed through UK airports in 2022

Glasgow cancelled the most flights with 1,500 in 2022

Belfast & Stansted were reliable with only 0.8% & 0.7% of flights cancelled

The latest research by tax specialists, RIFT, reveals that while Heathrow may be the UK’s busiest major airport, Brits heading abroad this summer are best to avoid Glasgow Airport, as it ranks as the worst when it comes to the proportion of flights being cancelled.

RIFT analysed the number of annual flights and cancellations at each of the UK’s 10 busiest airports to see which provides the most efficient service to passengers. 

Last year (2022), a combined total of 221.8 million passengers passed through the UK’s 10 busiest airports. 

28%, or 61.6 million, of these people travelled through Heathrow, making it the busiest airport in the nation. 

Gatwick handled 32.8 million passengers (15%), while Manchester and Stansted (10.5%) each served an estimated 23.3 million passengers (11%).

However, when it comes to the possibility of flight cancellations throwing a spanner in the works for UK holidaymakers, it’s Glasgow Airport that is most likely to kick off your holiday on a sour note. 

In 2022 2.5% of all flights from Glasgow were cancelled and while this might not seem like many, it equates to almost 1,500 cancellations. 

Heathrow does rank second when it comes to the frequency of cancelled flights. Of the 367,000 flights that were due to take off last year, Heathrow saw a cancellation rate of 1.7% or 6,391 flights.

Gatwick (3,472) and Edinburgh (1,363) also rank high with 1.6% of flights taken off the board.

Meanwhile, Birmingham airport handled almost 69,000 flights in 2022 and managed a cancellation rate of just 0.6%, equivalent to less than 400 flights. 

Stansted (0.7%) and Belfast International (0.8%) were also impressively reliable. 

Check the tables online here RIFT Holiday cancellations and passports 

What to do if your flight is cancelled

If your flight is cancelled, you have a legal right to either a full refund or a replacement flight to your intended destination. 

If you are halfway through a journey and the cancelled flight is, for example, a connecting flight, you also have the right to a free flight back to the airport you originally departed from. 

If a cancellation delays your journey for more than two hours, and occurs less than 14 days before the scheduled flight time, you are also entitled to compensation to cover your costs, such as food or accommodation when required. 

Compensation ranges between £100-£500 depending on how many miles the cancelled flight was going to take you and how many hours late your eventual arrival was. 

Be passport prepared

While cancelled flights are a common cause of holiday frustration and disappointment, it’s more common for holidays to be disrupted by passport issues. 

If your passport is out of date, it needs renewing before you can travel. The timeline for receiving a new passport is around 12-29 days after submitting your application. But His Majesty’s Passport Office recommends you allow for a waiting time of 10 weeks. 

What’s really important to know is that even if your passport is within its expiry date, it still might not be valid depending on your destination of choice. 

Some countries, such as the US, simply require your passport to be in-date for the duration of your trip, but many popular destinations require you to have at least three months left on your passport, including Spain, Greece, Italy, and France.

Anyone who isn’t aware of this can be in for a nasty surprise when they get to the airport and cancelled flights will be the least of your worries. 

Be prepared and make sure you check the rules specific to your destination well ahead of travelling. 

Bradley Post, MD of RIFT, commented: “Given how many flights leave UK airports every day, it’s fair to say that the industry is highly efficient and reliable with cancellations kept at a minimum. 

In fact, if your holiday is going to get scuppered at the airport, it’s far more likely to be a passenger error than an airline error. Forgotten passports and out of date passports are always going to be leading contributors to ruined holidays. 

You’ve got to double check your passport well before you travel. And don’t forget, when a flight is cancelled by the airline, there’s a good chance of getting your money back. But if it’s your own fault that you can’t travel as planned, you’re not going to get any compensation whatsoever.”

Bristol Airport scores highly in customer satisfaction survey

Bristol Airport gains high customer rankings achieving best ever scores for three areas including overall satisfaction, business passenger satisfaction and the arrivals passport process in ACI’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Survey in UK airports.

The survey is an international airport passenger experience benchmarking programme and is the only international survey measuring passengers’ satisfaction while they are at the airport. The programme measures passenger satisfaction at leading UK airports, as well as airports from over 80 countries. The latest results (quarter 1: January – March 2019) also ranks Bristol Airport highly for business and executive lounges, and cleanliness of terminal as well as for ambience.

Bristol Airport wins Best Airport in Europe award

Bristol Airport has been awarded the title of Best Airport in Europe for airports in the

5 to 15 million passengers per annum category.

Photo Bristol Airport

On Wednesday 6th March, the Airports Council International (ACI) World revealed the winners of its world-renowned Airport Service Quality Awards which recognises those airports around the world that delivers the best customer experience in the opinion of their own passengers.

The Airport Service Quality (ASQ) programme is the world’s leading airport passenger service and benchmarking programme measuring passengers’ satisfaction across 37 key performance indicators. During 2018 quarterly surveys were completed, asking passengers to rate their experience through the airport these factors included security, cleanliness and ambience.

Bristol Airport shows off its new plans

 A radical new look for Bristol Airport.........

The UK's Bristol Airport has submitted a planning application to North Somerset Council seeking permission to increase capacity to handle up to 12 million passengers a year by the mid-2020s.

passenger numbers are expected to pass the nine million mark for the first time next year. The proposed development includes new infrastructure, improvements to existing facilities, and operational changes to ensure the airport can continue to meet the demand for air travel to and from the South West of the UK well into the next decade. Annual traffic through the terminal is currently limited to 10 million passengers under the current planning permission. 

The proposals represent the first practical step towards an exciting vision to develop the region’s international gateway to serve up to 20 million passengers a year by the mid-2040s. 

Under the new plans, the terminal will be further enlarged, with the additional space providing expanded passenger and baggage facilities. A canopy extension over a pedestrianised forecourt will improve the approach to the front of the building.