The ALRIGH2T Project has continued to advance towards its objective of enabling safe, efficient and standardised liquid hydrogen refuelling for future aircraft. As the project moves closer to its demonstration phase, steady progress has been achieved across key areas, including liquid hydrogen (LH2) refuelling technologies, safety assessment activities and airport-level operational planning.
Within this context, the ALRIGH2T consortium recently met in Naples, Italy, for its second General Assembly, hosted at ATENA’s headquarters, providing an opportunity for partners to align on ongoing technical developments and to consolidate the common roadmap towards the planned LH2 refuelling demonstration at Milan Malpensa Airport.
An internal HAZID workshop on the LH2 refuelling demonstration planned at Milan Malpensa Airport was conducted to identify potential hazards and threats, their causes and consequences, and possible mitigation measures. This workshop further reinforced the project’s collaborative effort to define safe operational frameworks.
Two years of progress: technical advances of ALRIGH2T
The meeting featured a series of insightful discussions, leading to key conclusions at this stage of the ALRIGH2T project. During the gathering, technical partners presented the successful completion of the activities under Work Package 2, which focused on the definition of technical specifications and techno-economic boundary conditions. The work carried out includes a pre-analysis of technological concepts for LH2 refuelling, an assessment of the LH2 quantities required for flight operations at the selected case-study airports, and a techno-economic evaluation of the hydrogen supply chain infrastructure and logistics. These results establish the boundary conditions and provide a solid foundation for the subsequent work packages, which will further investigate and develop an LH2 refuelling concept and ultimately support the demonstration activities at the case-study airport.
With regard to the latest actions carried out within this scope, the project has finalised a techno-economic assessment (TEA) of different liquefied hydrogen procurement options for airports, aimed at enabling future LH2-powered aircraft operations. The analysis highlights that pipeline hydrogen supply combined with local liquefaction is particularly attractive for airports located near the European Hydrogen Backbone, such as Milan Malpensa (MXP), as it offers greater flexibility under conditions of uncertain or increasing hydrogen demand and proves more cost-effective in the long term compared to alternative supply options. Furthermore, the results indicate that Northern Italy has the potential to become a major hydrogen hub by 2050, driven by the expected growth in electrolysis capacity, hydrogen imports from Northern Africa, and its proximity to the planned European Hydrogen Backbone. Nevertheless, the study also underlines that a significant acceleration in infrastructure deployment will be required in the coming years to realise this potential.
Further progress has been achieved through several technical activities. Within the framework of the activities on the LH2 cryogenic pump and future demonstration at Linde’s liquefaction plant, the process and instrumentation diagram has been completed, and both HAZOP and NPSH studies have been successfully carried out.
In parallel, significant advances have been made in modelling activities, including the development of a dynamic centrifugal pump model incorporating performance curves, as well as a dynamic analytical model of the LH2 receiving tank that accounts for gas condensation and heat exchange with the tank walls.
Regarding direct refuelling technology, sensor integration and the assembly of the tank system are progressing as planned, while the digital twin sub-components are already prepared for an initial comparison with real test data. In addition, a mock-up of the P180 aircraft has been prepared for the test setup at Milan Malpensa, representing a key milestone towards the project’s first demonstration activities.
Advancing demonstration activities
As the project moves closer to its demonstration activities, notable progress has been achieved in demonstration and technology evaluation activities. In particular, Piaggio Aerospace performed a pilot study, which analysed all ground operations surrounding a future zero-emission regional aircraft on an actual airport stand. At the same time, required safety distances, as well as operation sequences and timing, have also been analysed. The study provides indications on safety distances and will enable the detailed definition of the subset of refuelling operation steps to be simulated at Milan Malpensa, with this definition to be finalized in the upcoming period.
Building on this work, the partners have contributed to a detailed definition of the technical requirements for the procurement of LH2 and ancillary systems and services in alignment with the Milan Malpensa demonstration objectives. The documentation defining the requirements for contracting the procurement will be finalised, followed by the issuance of a tender.
Concerning the testing of hydrogen ground movement vehicles, ATENA carried out data acquisition at Milan Malpensa to support future demo planning. Real-world operational data on braking and energy behaviour were collected from a test tractor. The work is progressing through the optimisation of an existing hydrogen-powered tractor.
Workshop highlights safety considerations for LH2 operations
A HAZID workshop, organised as part of the project’s work on environmental, safety, regulatory and cross-cutting aspects, brought partners together to examine potential risks associated with the upcoming demonstration activities at Milan Malpensa Airport. The session focused on identifying safety-critical elements of the planned operations and discussing high-level mitigation approaches. This collaborative effort ensures that the design of the demonstration is guided by a robust understanding of potential risks from the outset.
Beyond demonstration planning, wider safety, environmental, and regulatory activities are advancing steadily. These include initial safety modelling, regulatory mapping, and environmental assessments, which will provide the basis for future authorisation processes and contribute to the development of harmonised standards for LH2 operations at airports.
Strengthening collaboration and preparing for next steps
The General Assembly held from 9 - 11 December 2025 also included a meeting with the External Advisory Board. Experts provided insights concerning the differences for airports in the commonly used firefighting philosophies commonly and based on Jet A-1, as well as valuable input on authorisation procedures, regulatory challenges and operational considerations related to hydrogen use at airports.
Partners also had the opportunity to visit ATENA’s offices and laboratories, located within a high-tech innovation district, where advanced facilities support research on fuel cells, hydrogen systems, energy storage technologies, and related experimental development in collaboration with academic and industry institutions.
With the project now entering its second half, ALRIGH2T will intensify its work towards the planned demonstrators, helping position the project at the forefront of Europe’s efforts to showcase safe, efficient, and scalable LH2 refuelling operations and support the long-term transition towards climate-neutral aviation.