There is no Icarus in the Electrification of Aviation

Electrification brings a significant paradigm shift of the mobility eco-systems for all sectors, no matter whether road transport or shipping.

Before going too much into the obvious though, let’s move quickly to some pertinent questions that we at CharIN look at:

Seems fair to ask these questions considering that sectors are moving at different speeds in electrification, and our work is focused on providing solutions to facilitate the transition for all.

But, before we turn this into a 10,000-word report (and the editorial team refuses publishing anything else ever again), let us focus the joystick on one sector – aviation.

There are in essence two “airside-vehicle” dimensions of electrification when it comes to aviation. Ground handling services and aircraft. The former is quite diverse in its implementation in that it depends on the airport uptake obligation, interest and capacity. There are funds, for example, furnished by the European Commission under the Connecting Europe Facility for ground support equipment (GSE), but I also know of airports who have bought electric (gate to plane) passenger busses using government funds which are now sitting in storage because operations capacity for charging is “not quite there yet” and the charging infrastructure is not as “established”. Sound familiar?

Other airports are more able to implement the relevant sustainability and modernity ambitions inherent to the age of transition. Yet, there are risks. As the Alternative Fuels Observatory correctly states, for example, downtime in equipment can be particularly challenging as it can cause significant disruptions. But, the trip to electrification is not as far as a bus ride to the plane on the other side of the airport might imply. There are quite a few GSEs buzzing around the aircraft already: container and belt loaders, lavatory and water trucks, pushbacks, etc.

The dynamics surrounding the electrification of aircraft obviously face their own challenges, both on the ground and in the sky. The role of the airport is often underestimated, especially when we look at challenges (now and in the future) of grid capacity, charging time in light of slots, adapted infrastructure to plane design, etc. But, there are airports already gearing towards battery charging.