opportunities

Connected Zero Emissions Flight (ZEF) Airfields Expression of Interest

Closes 5 September

The imperative to introduce zero emission aircraft into commercial service to meet the UK’s targets for decarbonising aviation is clear, and the first fixed-wing aircraft capable of ZEF are expected to complete certification in the next few years. The development of an aircraft is, however, only one of many elements of the ZEF ecosystem that are required; indeed, Connected Places Catapult’s work on the DfT Zero Emission Flight Infrastructure (ZEFI) programme, plus the work of the Hydrogen in Aviation Alliance, identified the need for a “network of hydrogen pioneer airports to serve as a testing ground for accelerating hydrogen-powered aviation”.

Connected Places Catapult, as the UK’s innovation accelerator for transport, is therefore launching the Connected ZEF Airfields project, with the goal of accelerating the first stages of the transition to ZEF within the UK regional and sub-regional markets. Following on from our previous infrastructure-focussed work – the Zero Emission Flight Infrastructure programme — we will expand our remit to consider wider operational, business and safety considerations for airlines and airfields, developing the concept of operations for a collaborative network of ZEF airfields and applying this to specific real-world scenarios.

We are assembling a quorum of interested airfields, airports, aircraft operators, ground operators, regulators and manufacturers, alongside wider industry stakeholders, to elicit collaboration and better understand the opportunities and barriers to the early-stage commercial adoption of ZEF. Based on this engagement we aim to create a collaborative network of ZEF airfields and airports to ensure UK aviation is ready for the transition to ZEF. This will include identifying candidate routes for the UK’s first ‘ZEF corridors’. Through the lens of these test cases, and looking within a 5-year timeframe, we will examine the specific, practical considerations, options and prerequisites for the early-stage commercial implementation of ZEF and publish these in the form of a playbook.