Let’s be honest: The timelines have shifted. The hype cycle has peaked. Some investors are getting cold feet. But does that mean zero emission flight is dead? Absolutely not. It means we’re entering the most critical phase, separating genuine progress from wishful thinking.
SSWS 2026 is where the industry has the honest conversation:
- Hydrogen aviation promised revolutionary change. Electric aircraft were going to transform regional travel. eVTOLs would create urban air mobility overnight. Then reality hit: certification timelines stretched, infrastructure costs ballooned, and the physics of energy density remained stubbornly difficult.
But here’s what’s actually happening:
- Manufacturers are completing test flights and progressing with liquid hydrogen.
- Quiet but growing messaging from aerospace about entry into service of regional hydrogen fuelled aircraft in a 3–10-year window
- Australia and China are making serious infrastructure investments that could leapfrog Western markets.
- Airports are quietly building hydrogen transition pathways, starting with ground vehicles, learning lessons that will matter when aircraft are ready.
- Regulatory frameworks for hydrogen certification are finally taking shape.
- A growing number of hydrogen storage and fuelling proof-of-concept projects around the world (UK in the Cotswolds, EU H2 projects in TULIPS, Airbus, etc.).
This year’s program tackles the uncomfortable questions:
- Recalibrating the Roadmap”: Updated timelines, honest assessment of technical hurdles, and the critical question: Why should capital still flow to hydrogen
- Regional vs. Long-Haul Reality: Understanding where hydrogen makes sense (spoiler: probably not transatlantic flights in our lifetime) and where battery-electric might actually work
- Infrastructure First Approach: Why the ground-to-air transition pathway is smarter than betting everything on aircraft development
- The Investment Crossroads: VCs, governments, infrastructure providers, and OEMs need clarity, we’re providing evidence-based perspectives on technology readiness levels and realistic commercialisation timelines.
The message: Zero emission flight will happen. But not on the original timeline, and not without honest assessment of where we really are versus where we hoped to be.
