The MAHEPA project held its OUT-OF-BOX seminar on the 19th International Conference on Transport Science (ICTS) in Slovenia on 18th September 2020. ICTS is organised annually by the Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport of the University of Ljubljana and Slovene Association of Transport Sciences, where ideas and research results are exchanged. Topics range from marine science and issues to environmental aspects of transport, road safety and air transport. Within the conference also MAHEPA project was presented with article on Adaptation of airport infrastructure for operation of ICE-hybrid and fuel cell aircraft.
In not-so-distant future, hybrid-electric aircraft are expected to enter the market and revolutionise the segment of local and regional flights. Their introduction will require adaptation of airport ground infrastructure, as the existing airport ground infrastructure is not suitable for operations of hybrid aircraft, i.e. it is either non-existent, insufficient, or unsuitable. Within the MAHEPA project, two study cases have been developed to estimate the technical requirements for the relatively novel ground infrastructure needs at airports. The first study refers to multiple charging issues of ICE-hybrid aircraft, while the second study relates to the refuelling of fuel cell-hydrogen hybrid aircraft.
During the OUT-OF-BOX seminar various aspects of the necessary adaptation of airport infrastructure were examined to enable smooth operation of ICE-hybrid and FC-hybrid aircraft in the future.