As an alternative to kerosene (Jet-A1), green hydrogen is considered a potential solution to reduce the environmental impact of the medium-range aviation industry. While the technical feasibility of liquid hydrogen (LH2)-powered aircraft is already being researched and demonstrated, the required infrastructure, as well as its impact on the current ground operations has received little attention in literature. This research paper aims to fill this research gap with the objective of exploring the potential impact of commercial LH2-powered aircraft on the ground operations, focusing on (the transition towards) 2050. In contribution to this main research objective, five important turnaround-related factors for ground handling LH2 were considered to explore their respective impact on the ground operations. These five
parameters include the number of LH2 fuel trucks, LH2 flow rate, LH2 aircraft penetration rate, LH2 refueling safety zone diameter and the level of restricted parallel turnaround processes during LH2 refueling. Through varying these parameters in experiments using an agent-based simulation model, meaningful results could be obtained which are useful to consult airports and airlines on what operational and infrastructural measures need to be accommodated to ensure competitive ground operations in terms of efficiency involving LH2-powered aircraft. The impact of the different experiments on the efficiency was expressed in terms of the turnaround time, number of aircraft delays and on-time performance of both Jet-A1 and LH2-powered aircraft. As a case-study, the ZEROe turbofan was selected to operate at the regional airport Rotterdam The Hague Airport, featuring remote aircraft stands. The results show that the LH2 penetration rate has the greatest influence on the efficiency of the ground operations,
and increasing this rate must be carefully coordinated by the involved stakeholders in accordance with technological developments of the remaining four parameters. For a LH2 penetration rate of up to 25%, at least 50% of the turnaround processes must be allowed to be executed during refueling, the safety zone diameter must not be greater than 30 meter and a single LH2 fuel truck with a flow rate of at least 5 kg/s is required to ensure efficient ground operations. To accommodate LH2 penetration rates up to 50%, there must be no restrictions on parallel turnaround processes, the safety zone diameter should be 15 meter and finally at least two LH2 fuel trucks are required with a flow rate of at least 10 kg/s each.