Airbus is advancing the development of hybrid-electric aircraft technologies through a €35 million ($41 million) research program aimed at supporting the next generation of short- and medium-haul commercial aircraft.
At the Farnborough International Airshow, the European aerospace company outlined progress on the Large Scale Integration Demonstrator of Hybrid Electrical Architecture (LEIA), a collaborative project designed to integrate hybrid-electric systems into future aircraft while improving energy efficiency and reducing weight.
A key objective of the program is the design and integration of non-propulsive electrical systems that can reduce engine power extraction, improve energy management and lower overall aircraft weight. Weight remains one of the biggest technical challenges for hybrid-electric aviation because current battery technology adds significant mass, limiting aircraft range and performance.
"The progress achieved through LEIA marks a pivotal shift in how we design the future of flight," Karim Mokaddem, Airbus' head of Aircraft of Tomorrow Research and Technology, said in a statement.
"By moving to integrated, intelligent hybrid-electric architectures, we are laying the physical and digital foundations for the next generation of aircraft," he said.
The LEIA program began in December 2025 and will run through December 2027. It brings together 25 aerospace companies and research organizations under the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking, a European Union-supported initiative to accelerate low-emission aviation technologies.
The project builds on the recently completed SWITCH program, which advanced hybrid-electric propulsion research. In July, Collins Aerospace completed integrated laboratory testing of hybrid-electric powertrain subsystems in collaboration with Pratt & Whitney, GKN Aerospace and MTU Aero Engines.
The equipment will now be transferred to Airbus' Sustainable Technology and Engineering Projects (STEP) facility in Ottobrunn, Germany, where engineers will evaluate how the hybrid-electric propulsion system performs alongside batteries and other aircraft systems before future flight demonstrations.
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