The existential threat to the air transport industry if it fails to achieve net-zero carbon emissions and the mounting dangers from military conflicts around the world are hard to ignore at the Farnborough Airshow this year.

Threats faced by the aerospace and defense industries beg for answers in the form of technology, technology, and yet more technology. This year the show has proved light on major product reveals, but the event has been packed with tidings of technological progress for the next decade and beyond.

Leading aviation finance company Avolon has partnered with Airbus to investigate the financing aspects and options for hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft. The work will form part of Airbus’s ZeroE project.

The OEM unveiled the project in 2020 to pioneer technology for hydrogen-powered flight and to develop the ecosystem required to support it. The tie-up with Avolon explores financing and commercialization options, and how the leasing model could support them.

GKN Aerospace is investing £4 million ($5.2 million) to advance Airbus’s Sustainable Wing Solutions (SusWingS) research and technology program. The company announced Wednesday that it will be stepping up its existing collaboration with the airframer, along with Cranfield University and the University of Manchester.

The program’s objective centers on developing high-performance wings and environmentally conscious manufacturing processes. The overall £15 million budget includes an £8 million contribution from the UK government-backed Aerospace Technology Institute.

Turkey's Freebird Airlines has selected RTX subsidiary Collins Aerospace to provide a software solution that will enable the airline to improve operations across its A320 fleet of aircraft.

Freebird Airlines will implement Ascentia, a cloud-based data management and analytics platform, to provide a holistic view of aircraft maintenance. It will use the Collins solution to analyze maintenance data, allowing the air service to predict and reduce aircraft-on-ground events, lowering maintenance costs and improving the passenger experience.

After several years of studying the idea, Airbus unveiled a version of its popular A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) based on the new-generation A330-800neo airliner on Tuesday at Farnborough. Officially known as the A330 MRTT+, the aircraft will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines.

The powerplant and an all-new wing offer an 8 percent improvement in fuel efficiency compared with the current MRTT, which Airbus based on the A330-200. The fuel load, held in wing tanks, remains the same at 111 tonnes, but the extra efficiency equates to increased fuel offload capacity and/or improved range. Airbus claims that the MRTT+ will have a 41 percent range advantage over the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus.

The digital flip-through issues of AIN’s award-winning Farnborough Airshow News are now available online. It’s a great way to quickly scan the news from Farnborough 2024, whether you’re attending the show or watching from afar.