An Airbus boss has said ongoing disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine will not threaten the aerospace giant’s ambition to develop the world's first zero-emission commercial aircraft by 2035.
Head of group demonstrators Sandra Bour Schaeffer said the firm had deployed the “right strategy” to weather the “biggest crisis” the industry had seen, with global supply chains continuing to be impacted by covid lockdowns in China and Russia’s military invasion.
During a recent visit to the company’s site in Filton, South Gloucestershire, the Toulouse-based chief executive of Airbus’ subsidiary UpNext - which identifies future flying technologies for its products - told BusinessLive the company would continue to invest significantly in its research into sustainable innovation.
It comes as the firm continues to ramp up production of its A320 family of aircraft, sparking job creation on the shop floor of its factory in Broughton in North Wales.
Airbus is also set to add to its workforce in Filton, which was recently selected by the company for its UK Zero Emission Development Centre (ZEDC) - a new research hub to develop hydrogen technologies as part of efforts to decarbonise aviation.
The facility could be set to play a key role in a new partnership Airbus has joined which also involves - Bristol Airport, airline Easyjet, fellow aerospace firm GKN and Bristol Port - to develop a new South West hydrogen infrastructure.
A spokesperson for the company told BusinessLive it would be looking to recruit for 250 early careers roles in Filton for 2023, while a "significant" number of further opportunities could arise over the next year from the sustainable aviation programmes the site is collaborating on with Airbus’ other bases in Europe.
Ms Bour Schaeffer said she had been “very impressed” by the progress she had seen made by aerodynamics teams working on pioneering new wing technology, which has been tested at Filton’s state of the art wind-tunnel facility.
The eXtra Performance Wing project, which Airbus is collaborating on with engineers at the National Composites Centre (NCC) in Bristol, is examining onboard technologies, such as gust sensors, pop-up spoilers and multifunctional trailing edges, to enable the active control of the wing, in a bid to reduce Co2 emissions.
Following the successful wind tunnel trials in Filton, the new wing design will be taken to France where it will be assembled on an aeroplane by Airbus production teams there, ahead of test flights starting in 2024.
Ms Bour Schaeffer said Airbus’ research and technology had not been affected by the recent economic turbulence, and there were “different elements” to achieving carbon neutral aerospace by 2050.
She said: “One point is replacing current fleets with new aircraft, because every generation of aircraft brings a 20-25% fuel burn saving, and therefore emission reduction with it. So this is one important element which is readily available there for our customers to upgrade their fleets.
“Sustainable aviation fuel will play a major role in it as well. The third element is really to look at the global optimisation of traffic; the way air traffic is managed for instance, is not necessarily the best optimum in terms of emissions."
Ms Bour Schaeffer said if Airbus worked in partnership globally with regulatory bodies and air traffic management, it could "significantly" reduce emissions by using the same fleet it has today. But she said "breakthrough technologies" would "clearly" be part of achieving carbon neutral aircraft as well.
“That's why we are very much investing into hydrogen. We think there is a potential there to reach a first product in 2035, and to do that you need a lot of technology," she explained.
Ms Bour Schaeffer said Filton, which has long-standing expertise in fuel and wing technologies, would have a “huge role” to play in Airbus working towards net-zero aircraft - an area of aerospace she predicted would see huge job creation across the global sector.
“I think we're super lucky to be in a generation which is really driving the next products. It's almost a revolution in aerospace to decarbonise the aircraft, so, it's actually the best time to join the industry.
“The challenges are high, clearly, but we think there is a road map there and we will get you to that ambition to decarbonise the skies.
“There are core competencies here in Filton, which are fuel and wing, and there is landing gear, and these continue to be core elements to future products.
“Even if we maybe have a different fuel, even if the wings might have a different shape, it's still this great expertise that exists here on which we want to build on and we'll continue building on it at the Filton facilities.”
Ms Bour Schaeffer identified hiring the right skills to help accelerate new technologies as one the challenges facing Airbus and UpNext.
The engineer, who has worked in the sector for decades, also hoped a long-standing lack of women and people from underrepresented groups could be addressed.
“I am a true believer in the power of diversity. I think it's when you combine people from different backgrounds that you get to the best possible solution and the best possible result. Airbus is building on its European roots, combining people from France, Germany, Spain, UK, but also expanding around the world," she added.
“It's up to us now to continue. If you talk about gender diversity specifically, clearly there are fewer women in classical engineering aerospace studies than men. But it's up to us to inspire the younger generation and show them it's possible that it is a path they could study in - and that there is a career."
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