MAY 26 – Day 1

European funds will lay the foundations for the future of the industry in Spain and will pave the way for further development of the sector's capacity for innovation, thereby fostering the pioneering spirit that characterizes the aerospace industry. Isabel del Pozo describes in this conference the main pillars that should be reinforced by these funds. Among them, the ecological transition, the circular economy, digitization and intermodality stand out.

The Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking [Horizon 2020] is delivering on the objectives set in its Regulation towards reducing aviation’s environmental and climate impact. It has amassed an impressive eco-system of over 900 participants ranging from SMEs, universities, research organisations to large aeronautics industry leaders. But in terms of achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, it is clear that much more and more far-reaching action is needed. In line with the EU Green Deal, and the Von Der Leyen Commission’s stated ambitions and priorities, Europe now aims to be the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. This will require an even more ambitious and disruptive approach towards aviation’s energy efficiency, its use of resources and its emissions. Even though the Covid-19 pandemic has created the worst crisis in aviation to date, the demand to travel, to visit people and places, and to do business will return; and aviation will rebound. When it does, addressing aviation’s climate impact will be more urgent than ever. Clean Aviation is the way to ‘build back better’ and create a sustainable aviation sector - and to lead the way as Europe, and set the mark for others to follow.

An overview of the innovative assembly technologies matured under EWIRA Core Partner consortium headed by ACITURRI. Particular highlights of the Jig-Less assembly concept technology will be shown in the presentation. This technology has been developed up to TRL6 within Clean sky 2 programme and used to assemble some flight tests bed components. Additionally, outputs from this technology have contributed to mature another assembly concept: flexible jig, for application in large aircraft structures.

The air transport industry is today facing the biggest crisis in its history. This situation will lead to a far-reaching (and necessary) transformation of the industry, which will have to put in place more efficient and effective management models. The key to this process will be innovation by fast-tracking the uptake of new technologies which support digitalisation and sustainability. Only with these tools will the airline industry be able to cope with and successfully prevail over the enormous disruption caused by Covid-19. It is, in short, about resilience.