Government and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has announced that the government will provide £103 million in industry funding for aerospace technology projects aimed at supporting sustainable air travel. The Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme will deliver the funding for R&D projects led by GKN Aerospace, Queens University, Rolls-Royce, Short Brothers, and ZeroAvia. These projects will introduce cutting-edge technologies, including zero emission hydrogen-powered flight, new sustainable propulsion systems, and turbine technologies. The funding will also create thousands of high-skilled jobs across the UK and attract investment into the aerospace industry. Reynolds launched the new initiative at the 2024 Farnborough Airshow and highlighted that the UK’s aerospace sector added almost £40 billion to the economy in 2023, reinforcing that the government is committed to placing innovation and manufacturing at the heart of its Industrial Strategy.
The ATI Programme is a joint investment between the government and industry. It aims to offer funding through a competitive process for research and technology development in the UK, maintain and grow the country’s competitive position in civil aviation, and accelerate the transition to net-zero aviation. The government has co-invested with industry approximately £3.6 billion in total project costs through grant and industry match-funding since 2013, involving 438 unique partners spread across the UK, including 290 SMEs.
The latest tranche of funding will support various projects, including the Hot Section Lifting and Materials (HOTLINE) project to develop turbine technologies that reduce costs, the Advanced Fuel Cell for Aviation Decarbonisation project to support hydrogen flight, the Scenic Composites project to build capability around composite materials in the aerospace cluster in the Belfast region, the IVI project to transition to new sustainable propulsion technologies, and the H2FlyGHT project to develop a fully integrated liquid hydrogen fuel system and 2 megawatt cryogenic electrical propulsion system for zero emission aircraft.
The CEO of the Aerospace Technology Institute, Gary Elliott, said that the ATI Programme is targeting investments in world-class research projects that accelerate technology development, grow manufacturing capacity, strengthen supply chains, and ensure that the aerospace sector continues to generate economic return. The funding supports an ambitious Industrial Strategy.
In conclusion, the government’s investment in aerospace technology projects will create opportunities for widespread innovation, establish a sustainable profile for UK air travel, and generate economic growth and high-skilled jobs in various regions across the country.
