Aviation is critical for Europe’s competitiveness, sustainability, and technological sovereignty, and continued investment in research and innovation is essential — This was the main conclusion of a meeting organised on 22 October 2025 in Brussels between European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva, Andreas Boschen and Axel Krein, Executive Directors of SESAR JU and Clean Aviation, and Arndt Schoenemann, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung and Chair of the Europe CANSO CEO Committee.
Commissioner Zaharieva welcomed the recently published Aviation Research and Innovation Strategy (ARIS), which sets out a pathway to keep Europe competitive and on track towards climate neutrality. She pointed to the inclusion of the “clean aviation moonshot” for the European Commission’s next multi-annual financial framework as a key measure to support the development of the “next generation of CO₂-free aircraft and automated air traffic management.”
ARIS estimates that total investment of EUR 66 billion between 2028 and 2034 is required to cover both research and innovation as well as the crucial step of bringing new technologies to market. Of this, EUR 22.5 billion could potentially come from the EU, with the remainder to be provided by Member States and the private sector. Investment for research could be supported through Horizon Europe, while deployment could be provided through the European Competitiveness Fund. Additional opportunities for start-ups could also be explored through the European Innovation Council.
It was noted that achieving the ambitions of the moonshot would require close collaboration between public and private partners including strong scientific and engineering capacities.
