Abu Dhabi, UAE – Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has joined the £65 million Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC) consortium, due to open next year at Cranfield University in the UK.  

As the first airline to join the DARTeC consortium and a leading industry innovator, Etihad’s expertise across the fundamental fields of sustainability, operational efficiency, safety and improved passenger experience will lend valuable insight and real-world operational capability to the DARTeC initiative.

Specific topics Etihad and DARTeC will collaborate on include:

  • reducing aircraft emissions both in the air and on the ground;
  • creating safe, secure and efficient airspace;
  • better understanding of whole-life sustainability impacts of aircraft;
  • enhancing the passenger experience;
  • increasing the reliability and availability of aircraft.

Professor Graham Braithwaite, Project Lead and Director of Transport Systems at Cranfield, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Etihad to the DARTeC project, with construction of our building now nearing completion at Cranfield’s global research airport. As an innovative airline focused on the future challenges of safety, efficiency and sustainability, there is much overlap between Etihad’s aims and the research themes of DARTeC. We look forward to working together to deliver the innovation required to enable the industry to ‘build back better’ from Covid-19.”

Mohammad Al Bulooki, Chief Operating Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “Etihad has long been known as a leader for innovation in aviation and our role in the consortium reinforces our commitment to driving the industry forward through technology, and corporation.

“As an innovative, future-focused carrier, membership of DARTeC is a natural fit for Etihad, providing a unique opportunity to expand exploration of key topics across sustainability, safety and passenger experience with industry leading partners.

“With this new partnership we hope to bring the best ideas, approaches and projects to Etihad to ultimately ensure that our operations are cutting edge and that our Guests have the best possible journey.”

Researchers attached to DARTeC are already working with industry on projects to reimagine what airports and airlines look like post-Covid-19, and driving forward innovations in digital airspace and airport infrastructure that will help the UK reach its target of net zero carbon emissions.

DARTeC aims to address some of the main research challenges facing the aviation industry, including:

  • the integration of drones into civilian airspace;
  • increasing the efficiency of airports through technological advances;
  • creating safe, secure shared airspace through secure data communication infrastructures;
  • increasing the reliability and availability of aircraft utilising self-sensing/aware and self-healing/repair technologies.

Game-changing technologies such as the first operational digital air traffic control tower in the UK and next-generation radar technologies on the University’s licensed airport create a unique research and development environment.

Etihad Airways joins Aveillant, Blue Bear Systems Research, Boeing, BOXARR, the Connected Places Catapult, Cranfield University, Inmarsat, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the IVHM Centre, Saab, the Satellite Applications Catapult and Thales in the consortium which has also received co-investment support from Research England.

For more information about DARTeC visit: https://www.cranfield.ac.uk/dartec 

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About Cranfield University

Cranfield is a specialist postgraduate university that is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management.

Cranfield has over 50 years’ experience in transport, including the aviation, automotive, motorsport, military and marine sectors. We are one of the few universities in the world to have its own airport – our global research airport offers a unique environment for transformational research. 

Our education and award-winning research covers all modes of vehicles and transport across technology, engineering and management, including sustainable transport and intelligent mobility.   

In an increasingly interconnected world, we specialise in understanding the whole environment in which transport operates: the vehicles, infrastructure, businesses and logistics, as well as the human aspects of operating, managing and using transport. 

Our world-class facilities include high-performance wind tunnels, an off-road vehicle dynamics facility, a crash impact test centre (one of just two FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) approved test centres in the world) and our accident investigation laboratory, which is dedicated to our work in aviation, marine and rail safety and the only accident investigation laboratory of its type outside the United States.  

We were awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for our world-leading work in aviation safety through research and training in air accident investigation in 2011 and in 2019 for delivering in-flight aerospace engineering training for the worldwide aviation industry through our National Flying Laboratory Centre’s flying classrooms and laboratories. 

Our Multi-User Environment for Autonomous Vehicle Innovation is a £9 million ‘smart’ roadway test environment for the development of intelligent and autonomous vehicles, the first of its kind in the UK next to an airport and within the controlled setting of a university campus. It includes the associated systems needed to integrate emerging technologies into our day-to-day lives. 

A new £65 million Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre at Cranfield is spearheading the UK’s research into digital aviation technology. In 2018, Cranfield Airport became the first in the UK to have an operational digital air traffic control centre, replicating what can be seen through the windows of a traditional air traffic control tower via a live feed using HD cameras and sensors.  

www.cranfield.ac.uk/transportsystems    

For further details:
Duty Media Officer
Etihad Airways
Email: dutymediaofficer@etihad.ae 

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