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During the 2025 Airbus Summit, Airbus (Toulouse, France) provided an update on its future commercial aviation targets, including outlining potential technology bricks to prepare for a next-generation single-aisle aircraft — that could enter service in the second half of the 2030s — as well as its revised roadmap to mature the technologies associated with hydrogen-powered flight.

Airbus provided more details regarding the key technology building blocks that could enable the entry into service of a next-generation single-aisle aircraft with an expected 20-30% increase in fuel efficiency compared with the current generation, as well as the capability to fly with up to 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Airbus also unveiled new design concepts that showcase the different configurations being studied for this future aircraft, highlighting the various potential solutions that are being explored in order to achieve this major leap forward in aircraft efficiency, and support the aviation sector’s roadmap towards net-zero emissions in 2050.

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Airbus a “single-aisle aircraft with wings designed with advanced aerodynamics and biomimicry in mind to generate significantly more lift, reducing fuel consumption and increasing efficiency.” Innovations are being considered for its engines, wings, batteries and materials use.

Long, foldable wings. In 2023, Airbus opened the Wing Technology Development Centre (WTDC) at its Filton site in the U.K. It is home to the Wing of Tomorrow (WOT) research and technology program, which is heavily involved in the design of the wing for future aircraft. But the program goes beyond design, targeting improvements in new wing manufacturing and assembly technologies.

While technical details are being kept tightly under wraps, some of the possibilities for a new wing have already been publicly disclosed, with the most prominent being a folding wing. This gives the aircraft a longer wingspan in flight, increasing lift and reducing drag, while still making it compatible with airport gates. 

More energy-efficient engines. Airbus says it is investigating the potential of a few promising engines technologies. One primary contender is the open fan, in which the blades that generate thrust are larger and not contained by a nacelle to allow air to move efficiently through the engine.

Airbus is working with propulsion experts CFM (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) on the Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines (RISE) open fan engine demonstrator featuring carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) blades, which aims to show how this technology could reduce fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions by 20% compared to today’s most efficient single-aisle engines. Airbus plans to flight test RISE on its A380 flight test aircraft by the end of the decade.

Electrification, hybridization improvements. Airbus is also working on advancing hybrid-electric propulsion, which supplements the use of conventional jet fuel or SAF with electricity from batteries or fuel cells. This has the potential to reduce an aircraft’s carbon emissions by up to 5%.  The EcoPulse demonstrator, a joint project between Airbus, Daher and Safran, has given significant insight into the use of lithium-ion batteries onboard an aircraft with a high-voltage network. Airbus is also exploring the potential of solid-state batteries.

Novel materials for increased efficiency. According to Airbus, overall materials have shifted from being weaker and heavier to now being high-strength and lightweight. This has led to improvements in safety, fuel efficiency and aircraft performance. But Airbus believes there is more progress to be made. One key pathway for improvement is researching how biomass composites and thermoplastics could replace CFRP, and the progress being targeted is not limited to weight reduction. Airbus is also seeking to make the aircraft manufacturing process both more sustainable — by choosing materials that are more easily recyclable — and to make it more efficient, with less waste and quicker assembly. The company cites the Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator (MFFD) program as an example of these kinds of improvements.

“Airbus teams are working relentlessly toward the key decisions that will ultimately finalize the choices of the aircraft’s engine type, wing design and additional innovations once their maturity is demonstrated,” says Karim Mokaddem, Airbus head of R&T.

Airbus believes that each of these technology building blocks will play a key role in enabling a new generation of commercial aircraft that will deliver step change improvements in all domains for efficiency and productivity and bring a considerable contribution to the decarbonization of air travel in the decades to come.