Eight UK projects will develop the charging points, hydrogen storage and refuelling systems that electric and hydrogen aircraft need before they can carry passengers, in a £7.3 million award from the Department for Transport.
For UK business travellers, the money matters less for what it buys today than for what it unblocks. Aircraft manufacturers have spent years promising hydrogen and battery-electric regional aircraft, but those aircraft cannot fly commercially unless airports can fuel and charge them. This funding, awarded under the zero-emission flight demonstrator competition, targets exactly that gap.
What the money is paying for
The eight winning projects cover the practical end of decarbonisation. One is a feasibility study examining how Bristol Airport could install liquid hydrogen infrastructure for aircraft. Others focus on high-power charging systems for electric aircraft and mobile hydrogen refuelling vehicles that could serve multiple stands without fixed pipework.
A further feasibility scheme is looking at how hydrogen-powered aircraft might work on regional routes serving Scotland’s remote highlands and islands. That is arguably the most commercially interesting strand for corporate travel buyers. Short island-hopping sectors are precisely where small hydrogen or electric aircraft make economic sense first, and where fares are currently high and frequencies thin.
Heidi Alexander, the UK’s transport secretary, said: “By powering up electric and hydrogen-powered planes, we’re bringing passengers closer to the flights of the future, while creating skilled jobs, backing UK businesses and spreading economic growth to all four corners of the country.”
Part of a much larger pot
The £7.3 million sits inside a £43 million package aimed at developing the next generation of aircraft. Separately, the government is putting £219 million into lower-carbon and alternative aviation fuels as it works towards net zero for aviation by 2050 under the Jet Zero Strategy.
That fuel money is the more immediate lever. Hydrogen and electric aircraft will not be carrying business travellers on mainstream routes this decade, whereas sustainable aviation fuel already flows through existing airport systems. Progress there has been slower than ministers hoped, with airlines warning that UK net zero targets are slipping out of reach because domestic SAF production has not materialised at the pace the mandate assumed. Heathrow has meanwhile raised its alternative fuel target to 5.6% for 2026.
Why SME travel buyers should pay attention
Three things follow from this announcement for companies that book flights.
First, airport charges. Infrastructure of this kind is capital-intensive, and airports will eventually look to recover the cost. Whether that lands as a per-passenger levy, a fuel surcharge or is absorbed into landing fees is not yet decided, but it will not be free.
Second, route economics. If hydrogen or electric aircraft prove viable on thin regional routes, the case for maintaining domestic connections that airlines have been quietly trimming improves. Companies with sites in the Scottish islands, the south-west or Northern Ireland have the most to gain.
Third, reporting. Corporate travel policies increasingly carry emissions targets, and the arrival of genuinely zero-emission sectors, even short ones, gives travel managers a cleaner option to point at. The same logic is already driving interest in electric air taxi services from Heathrow and Manchester.
The realistic timeline remains long. Feasibility studies are the first rung on a ladder that runs through certification, regulatory approval and commercial operation. But the alternative, waiting for aircraft to arrive before building anywhere to fuel them, would be slower still. The full list of funded projects is available on gov.uk.
