easyJet and Rolls-Royce complete testing milestone using hydrogen as aviation fuel

easyJet and Rolls-Royce completed (29-Apr-2026) a major testing milestone using hydrogen as an aviation fuel. The companies tested a modified Rolls-Royce Pearl 15 aircraft engine reaching full take off power while running on 100% hydrogen at NASA's Stennis Space Center near Bay St Louis (Mississippi). The milestone is the result of a four-year programme between Rolls-Royce, easyJet and global partners to explore hydrogen as a potential aviation fuel and generate engineering insight for future propulsion applications. During this phase of the testing programme, engineers demonstrated that a modern jet engine - scalable to power a narrowbody aircraft - can safely operate on gaseous hydrogen across a fully simulated flight cycle, including start-up, take-off, cruise and landing. Rolls-Royce chief engineer, hydrogen demonstrator programme Adam Newman stated: "Through a collaborative, staged testing approach, we have validated combustion, fuel and control system technologies and demonstrated the safe use of hydrogen through design, commissioning, maintenance and testing". [more - original PR]