Airbus, Siemens to Work Together on Electrically-powered Planes

European aerospace group Airbus has signed a deal with industrial group Siemens to work on hybrid electric systems.

An Airbus A350 XWB aircraft performs ahead of the International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE) at the Arturo Merino Benitez international airport in Santiago, March 29, 2016. REUTERS

BERLIN: European aerospace group Airbus has signed a deal with industrial group Siemens to work on hybrid electric propulsion systems with the aim of building small planes that could be partly powered by electricity by 2030.

The two companies will aim to demonstrate the technical feasibility of various hybrid electric propulsion systems by 2020, they said in a statement on Thursday.

The two have put together a team of about 200 people to work on developing electrically powered aircraft and will make "significant contributions" to the project.

"We believe that by 2030 passenger aircraft below 100 seats could be propelled by hybrid propulsion systems and we are determined to explore this possibility together with world-class partners like Siemens," Airbus Group CEO Tom Enders said.