Air New Zealand and the aviation giant Airbus are getting into a partnership to explore how zero-emission aircraft could be launched in New Zealand.

They have signed a Memorandum of Understanding as a consequence of which Air New Zealand will analyze the impact hydrogen aircraft would have on its operations. Airbus will share hydrogen aircraft performance requirements with Air New Zealand to support the carrier’s decarbonization roadmap.

“This agreement brings us a step closer to our net zero emissions by 2050 commitment and to realizing our aspiration to put low carbon solutions in place for our shorter domestic and regional flights in the next decade,” said Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran on Thursday.

“New Zealand has a unique opportunity to be a world leader in the adoption of zero-emissions aircraft, given the country’s commitment to renewable energy which can be used to generate green hydrogen and our highly connected regional air network.”

Air New Zealand aims to net zero emissions by 2050, while Airbus has set an objective to develop a zero-emission commercial aircraft by 2035.