ALBAWABA _ It has been decades since the era of supersonic aircraft ended with the last landing of the Concorde in an airport in southwest England.
Now, there is Destinos, a promising European startup that has announced an aircraft surpassing the speed of sound, promising attractive flight times such as Frankfurt to Sydney in 4 hours and 15 minutes, or Memphis (USA) to Dubai in 3 hours and 30 minutes.
The Destinos aircraft operates on hydrogen power, exceeding five times the speed of sound, reducing the flight duration to less than a quarter of current commercial air travel.
The Destinos project began in 2021 but has achieved rapid progress. It is headquartered in Switzerland with a team of around 120 employees spread across Spain, France, and Germany.
The initial prototypes of the project have successfully completed test flights and are about to start testing a third hydrogen-powered model, with its inaugural flight expected by the end of the year.
Aircraft Fuel
Destinos prefers hydrogen as fuel due to its clean, renewable nature, low production costs, and ability to assist the aircraft in achieving the desired speed. However, hydrogen-powered aviation is still in its infancy, and hydrogen jet engines have not been used commercially yet. Airbus is working on developing a hydrogen jet engine that it says will begin flight testing in 2026.
Martina Lovkvest, Business Development Manager at Destinos, Said, "We're trying to cover a very long distance with our vehicles, which means flying from Europe all the way to Australia at Mach 5 (Mach equals 1,235 kilometers per hour)."
She added, "Using kerosene would make the aircraft very heavy, while hydrogen is much lighter in comparison. Hydrogen also has higher energy density than traditional aircraft fuel."
Aircraft Design
Lovkvest explains that the classic aircraft shape has been studied for many years, as it is highly efficient, allowing for the use of less fuel during the flight due to reduced air resistance.
She further stated, "This is a very large aircraft... It's the same size as the previous prototype, about ten meters long, but ten times heavier and perhaps twenty times more complex in terms of structure and propulsion."
Naturally, with each new prototype, Destinos works on improving and modifying the design. The team expects the final design, two decades from now, to look slightly different from the current test models.
The company hopes to launch a smaller aircraft that can accommodate around 25 passengers by 2030, albeit with some range restrictions, focusing primarily on business-class customers.
While striving to develop a multi-class aircraft, including economy class, the company relies on the hope that hydrogen prices will significantly decrease by that time.
Project Funding
In addition to private investments and public funding already obtained by Destinos, the company received a grant worth 26.7 million euros ($29.4 million) from the Spanish government in April 2023 to expand its hydrogen propulsion capabilities.
Destinos hopes that these additional revenues will help overcome the challenges they face. Lovkvest confirms that the company aims to adopt a more "realistic" approach now that the financial environment has become slightly tougher.
The company's plans heavily rely on the fluctuations of the hydrogen market, which Lovkvest acknowledges are beyond its control. However, both internal and external experts predict future price decreases.
