The Governing Board of the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking has approved €290 million EU funding for 19 new Clean Aviation projects, which amounts to €664 million in total research effort. €664 million equates to the total value of the public and private contributions in the Clean Aviation Call 4 projects, including relevant complementary R&I projects and activities identified as in-kind contributions. The projects' official start is subject to successful completion of grant preparation targeted for October (Fast Track Areas) and mid-December (all other areas).

These pioneering projects mark a decisive step into Clean Aviation's demonstration phase: technologies developed in earlier research will move out of the lab and into full-scale ground test facilities, preparing for the flight demonstration of the most promising ones. Projects cover a wide range of areas, from hybrid-electric and hydrogen propulsion architectures and systems, and airframe optimisation, to noise reduction and anti-icing technologies.

Building on the results of previous projects co-funded by Clean Aviation, the technologies will be tested under representative, real-world conditions to prove their reliability before they can be used in new aircraft of the future.

The eight projects funded under the Fast Track Areas (FTAs) will get underway at the end of 2026, with the remainder following in early 2027. Full-scale ground demonstrations and flight tests are planned for 2029–2030.

The projects will contribute to the aim of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions from Short-Medium Range and Regional aircraft by at least 30% compared to 2020 state-of-the-art technologies, and lay the foundations toward decarbonised aircraft for Entry-Into-Service (EIS) by 2035.

The selection of the projects follows Clean Aviation's fourth call for proposals, in which the participation of small & medium-sized enterprises, research and technology organisations, and universities almost doubled compared to previous calls, accounting for 42% of the funding allocated. 74 new entities out of a total of 185 are involved in the projects: 40% of participants. This upward trend was driven primarily by increased interest in FTAs and new eligibility conditions for certain project proposals. As a result, the ecosystem supported by Clean Aviation, both geographically and in terms of the types of entities receiving support, has grown: a boost for Europe's future aviation supply chain capacities.

"Collaboration is the runway from which innovative aircraft takes off. With strong tailwind from SMEs, Start-Ups, RTOs and universities, backed by industrial excellence, Europe is heading towards a future of more decarbonised, smarter, more resilient and globally competitive aviation."

Krzysztof Kuik

Co-chair of the Governing Board, Director Clean Planet at the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission

"When public ambition meets private innovation, fresh ideas grow into real-world impact. Clean Aviation's Call 4 projects take our most promising technologies from research into ground and flight demonstration as a decisive step towards the development of our next generation aircraft."

Rémi Maillard

Co-chair of the Governing Board, Executive Vice-President Engineering of the Commercial Aircraft business and Head of Technology, Airbus

"Call 4 projects are key to boosting Europe's competitiveness and industrial leadership in a demanding global market where maintaining a technological edge will be fundamental to future success. They showcase the innovative power of European aviation and aeronautics, marking Clean Aviation's move into its demonstration phase and bringing together the entire ecosystem behind a shared goal: the entry-into-service of new, highly efficient aircraft by 2035."

Axel Krein

Executive Director of the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking

Overall, 19 projects will receive funding in the following areas:

– Ultra-efficient short-medium range aircraft technologies (€106 million total EU funding)

– Hydrogen-powered aircraft technologies (€101 million total EU funding)

– Ultra-efficient regional aircraft technologies (€40 million total EU funding)

– Fast Track Areas (FTAs) (€40 million total EU funding)

– Transversal projects dedicated to aircraft concept integration and impact assessment have been awarded €2.5 million EU funding, and coordination and support actions €0.5 million EU funding.

Ultra-Efficient Short-Medium Range Aircraft

- DARTH: Demonstration of an Optimized System Platform for Ultra-efficient SMR Aircraft (Airbus Operations SAS)

- ARELIS: Demonstration of an Ultra-Efficient Rear Fuselage and Empennage and Its Integrated Industrial System enabling EIS2035 for the SMR Aircraft (Airbus Operations SL)

- HEURECA: Ground Demonstration of Hybrid-Electric Propulsion Architectures for the Ultra-efficient SMR aircraft (MTU Aero Engines AG)

- ELEVATED: Ground Demonstration of Hybrid-Electric Propulsion Architectures for the Ultra-efficient SMR aircraft (Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG)

Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft

- EHPIC: Demonstration of advanced FC propulsion techno-bricks for a fully electric hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft (Airbus Operations GmbH)

- FLHY-SYS: Demonstration of an integrated hydrogen fuel system for a fully electric hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt EV)

- H-ELENA: Demonstration of Advanced Low NOx H2C Propulsion System for a direct combustion propulsion aircraft (GE Avio Srl)

- FARMAN: Demonstration of a hydrogen distribution system for a direct hydrogen combustion propulsion aircraft (Safran Aircraft Engines)

Ultra-Efficient Regional Aircraft

- ATHENA: Demonstration of advanced airframe for ultra-efficient regional aircraft (Leonardo – Società per Azioni)

Fast-Track Areas

- DELIA: Demonstration of low power Ice Protection System technology (Asociación de Investigación Metalúrgica del Noroeste)

- SILENTIUM: Demonstration of cabin acoustic optimisation technology (C.I.R.A. Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospazia SCPA)

- ATTENUATE: Advanced noise-reducing technologies for propulsion systems of next generation Ultra-efficient SMR aircraft (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt EV)

- LightWingUP: Key Technologies for Loads Control Lidar for Ultra-Efficient SMR aircraft (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt EV)

- ARCTIC: Cryo-cooled power electronics for a fully electric hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft (Fraunhofer)

- HYPERWIN: Superconducting motor windings for a fully electric hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft (The University of Edinburgh)

- ATLAS: Innovative light weight and reliable liquid hydrogen tank (Università degli studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli)

- METALHYCA: Innovative light weight and reliable liquid hydrogen tank (LKR Leichtmetallkompetenzzentrum Ranshofen GmbH)

Aircraft Concept Integration & Impact Assessment

- HERO: Hydrogen powered aircraft concepts and key technologies integration and impact assessment (Airbus Operations GmbH)

Coordination and Support Actions

- FOCUS: Operational stakeholders' group to support the deployment of Clean Aviation aircraft concepts and technologies (Lufthansa Technik Aktiengesellschaft (LHT))

All selected projects are in line with the Clean Aviation Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA).