Airbus advances LEIA hybrid-electric aircraft architecture

LEIA hybrid-electric architecture

Airbus, working with partners across the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, is pursuing its aim of pioneering a hybrid-electric, non-propulsive power architecture for the next generation of commercial aircraft through the LEIA project - Large Scale Integration Demonstrator of Hybrid Electrical Architecture.

Supported by the European Union’s Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking, LEIA will play a key role in advancing high-voltage generation and distribution for innovative short- and medium-range electric aircraft systems. By closing the gap between component-level innovation and aircraft-level maturity, the project is intended to ready these technologies for future integration and certification.

“Our progress in developing hybrid-electric technologies and our move towards the LEIA demonstrator mark a fundamental shift in how we design the future of flight,” said Karim Mokaddem, Airbus Head of Future Aircraft Research and Technology. “By moving to integrated and intelligent hybrid-electric architectures, we are actively laying the physical and digital foundations for the next generation of aircraft. This evolution shows that the future of aviation is about more than just new energy sources; it is also about the new ecosystems that will manage them.”

From SWITCH subsystems to aircraft-level testing

LEIA builds on the successful completion of the SWITCH project, which focused on hybrid-electric powertrain subsystems and reached an important milestone in July when Collins Aerospace completed integrated laboratory testing. This achievement resulted from a strong collaborative effort involving project partners, including Pratt & Whitney, GKN Aerospace and MTU Aero Engines.

Operating alongside simulated aircraft and engine systems, these subsystems are now moving to Airbus’s STEP - Sustainable Technology and Engineering Projects - laboratory in Ottobrunn, Germany. Airbus teams will conduct critical aircraft-level integration tests there, covering design, battery interfacing and energy-management systems.

Advanced electrical components and the 2027 demonstration

Airbus is leading the integration of a suite of advanced electrical components, including scalable motors/generators, next-generation electronic controllers and power-distribution equipment, alongside several other aircraft systems. The systems will be validated through a comprehensive test programme, culminating in a key ground demonstration by 2027.

Both SWITCH and LEIA draw on Airbus’s continuing involvement in several Clean Aviation projects targeting electrification technologies for regional, short- and medium-range aircraft. By managing cross-border supply-chain integration and stringent technical requirements, Airbus is continuing to drive the aviation industry’s transformation towards a more electric future, with the ultimate aim of reducing aviation greenhouse-gas emissions.

Airbus is collaborating with a range of partners on the LEIA project: AVL, Collins Aerospace, European Aerospace Science Network (EASN), Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Liebherr Aerospace, Lynxeo, Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR), Safran, SAFT, University of Warwick and Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.

Information from Airbus