The Vertical Flight Society (VFS), the world’s leading non-profit organization working to advance vertical flight and advanced air mobility (AAM), is holding its 4th Annual H2-Aero Symposium on April 2–3, 2025, in Long Beach, California. This year’s event is in conjunction with the SAE International Hydrogen Airport Committee meeting on April 1, open for all. Both events will be at the Long Beach Hilton. Details can be found at www.vtol.org/h2symposium.

“This year’s Symposium features keynotes from around the globe, with the goal of decarbonizing aviation with hydrogen,” stated H2-Aero Symposium Chair Jesse Schneider, CEO/CTO of ZEV Station. “Leading experts from governments, aircraft, hydrogen and fuel cell industries will present groundbreaking advances, ‘pushing the envelope’ in hydrogen aviation.”

“This event spans the gamut of hydrogen for aviation,” said Mike Hirschberg, VFS Director of Strategy. “Cutting-edge innovations from hydrogen technologies to government policies will be shown from a wide spectrum of aircraft applications.” VFS supports technological breakthroughs such as electric and hydrogen power beyond just vertical flight applications, to include conventional takeoff and landing aircraft.

The 4th Annual H2-Aero Symposium’s theme is “Pushing the Envelope,” with real-world demonstrations highlighted in presentations by leaders from hydrogen and aerospace companies such as Boeing, H2FLY, Hydroplane, Joby Aviation, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Piasecki Aircraft and ZeroAvia; as well as hydrogen drone developers Aurora Flight Sciences and Unmanned Aerospace; and hydrogen technology companies Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories (GTL), H2MOF, Honeywell, PowerCell and Unither Bioelectronics.

Key government speakers include representatives from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), as well as NASA, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Other key talks include insights from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), SAE International and the University of California, Irvine.

The 2025 Symposium’s platinum sponsors are Joby Aviation, Piasecki and United Therapeutics, while GTL, PowerCell and SAE International are gold sponsors. Exhibitors include JHG Industries, M4 Engineering and PowerCell.

Long Beach, California, was again selected as the location for the event due to the state’s forward-looking vision to support hydrogen for ground transportation and potential links to ports and airports.

In 2014, VFS held the world’s first public meeting on battery-electric and hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and has been leading eVTOL efforts ever since. With hydrogen fuel cell technology making rapid changes over the past decade, VFS sees a similar, pivotal moment in aviation for all types of aircraft.