Analysis of operational impacts on airport ground handling and infrastructure from the integration of hybrid-electric aircraft (OpAL)

Project introduction

Name: OpAL
Project sponsor: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi)
Project duration: January 2023 - December 2025

Hybrid-electric flying is associated with anchoring aviation in future mobility concepts more sustainably than before, i.e., significantly reducing its negative impact on the environment and thus securing social acceptance in the long term. To enable the use of new propulsion technologies in aircraft at German airports in the first place, their handling processes, among other things, must be adapted in line with changing technological, operational, and safety-related requirements. The overall objective of this project is to analyze and redefine these operational processes in ground process management for a hybrid-electric aircraft and to specify the resulting infrastructural requirements for airfield facilities.

Domänen und Expertise im Projekt OpAL — Domains and expertise in the OpAL project

The scientific work objectives of the TU Dresden include the analysis and preparation of novel aerodynamic configurations and propulsion, refueling, and charging concepts, which result from changed technological, operational, and safety-related aspects due to hydrogen as a new energy carrier in aircraft. This includes the review and, if necessary, an adaptation of existing Minimum Equipment Lists (MEL) within the scope of certification, consideration of new system requirements (e.g. electrification), and the resulting turnaround process sequences for one representative aircraft type from each of the EASA/ICAO categories General Aviation (GA), Commercial Aviation (CA) and UAM/RAM. The aim is to determine whether currently planned ground times can still be achieved in the future or whether airlines would have to permanently redesign their flight schedules or change their service portfolio if hybrid-electric aircraft were to be used. Furthermore, it will be assessed whether existing handling positions and processes will have to be redesigned geometrically and/or functionally and whether existing regulations, infrastructure, and resource pools will have to be adapted as a result.

With the definition of realistic operational scenarios for the years 2030+, estimates of the future capacity of the airfield apron of one regional and one international airport will be made and possible infrastructure investments will be evaluated. This includes summarizing possible intermodal interfaces for connecting GA and UAM to CA terminal infrastructures.