In the second quarter of 2024, 20 million passengers traveled to and from the five main Dutch airports, almost 6 percent more than in the previous year. The number of commercial and cargo flights also increased, according to new figures from the CBS.

In short: flying is (still) popular. We will continue to rely on it in the coming years. But we are facing major challenges. Air travel must become more efficient, cleaner, quieter and faster if we want to achieve our climate goals. New technologies play a key role in this.

electrification

Electrification makes aviation more sustainable. A lot of research is being done in the Netherlands. At Teuge Airport in Gelderland, the Netherlands, work on electric flight has been going on for more than six years. Teuge is a magnet for various players in the electric flight industry such as DEAC, Lucy, NRG2fly, Electron and E-Flight Academy. In 2020, Groningen Eelde Airport also reached an important milestone in Dutch aviation history with the installation of the very first charging station for electric aircraft.

Elysian, a groundbreaking Dutch startup, has unveiled a 90-seat battery-powered electric plane. They claim their design can fly up to 1,000 kilometers.

Electrifly will launch electric flights between Maastricht, Aachen and Liège this summer

Maastricht Aachen Airport (MAA), one of three euregional airports, will operate the first publicly accessible electric flights between the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

hydrogen

While battery-powered electric aircraft are suitable for short distances, for example within the Netherlands, hydrogen is a better alternative for longer distances, but within continents. NLR, for example, is exploring the possibilities of making its currently battery-powered electric research vehicle Pipistrel fly with hydrogen by 2025. To make this a reality, they are first conducting small-scale experiments with various unmanned drones. This way, they can test step by step with increasingly larger and more complex systems how the technology works and what is required to enable a successful flight.

Sustainable fuels

If we consider flights between continents, for example between Europe and the USA, renewable fuel is a suitable alternative. Sustainable kerosene also has SAF. This can be made from biological waste streams or it can be produced from green hydrogen and CO2 from the air. For long distances, sustainable kerosene currently seems to have the best papers. It is also probably more readily available – also in other parts of the world – than green hydrogen.

Maintenance technicians are the invisible backbone of aviation

The pilot announces that the descent will begin in ten minutes. The flight attendant checks that all seat belts are fastened and the tray tables are stowed.

The future

Although there are already tests of flying with batteries or hydrogen, many of the projects underway in the Netherlands are still in their infancy. The next few years will show exactly how the future will develop.