The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) has released a white paper, outlining a targeted industrial blueprint to anchor clean aviation manufacturing in Europe, entitled ‘Wings of Change: A Strategy for Competitiveness, Innovation, Industry, and Investment in Europe's Sustainable Aviation Sector’.

As the EU advances the Clean Industrial Deal and its competitiveness agenda, GAMA proposes aviation-specific measures to further advance Europe's leadership in electric, hybrid-electric and hydrogen-powered flight. The white paper builds upon GAMA's 2024 white paper recommendations on accelerating electric aviation in Europe and includes a progress report of those recommendations.

“European general aviation manufacturers have led the way with the certification of both a fully electric aircraft and an electric propulsion engine,” says Péter Márton, director of European government affairs, GAMA. “Unfortunately, insufficient access to capital and limited industrial scale-up support have caused some companies to file bankruptcy and/or relocate. Without stronger investment frameworks and regulatory backing, Europe risks losing ground in a sector that is making headway in reducing environmental impacts and growing economic opportunity.”

Recognising the long development cycles and capital intensity of aircraft manufacturing, the GAMA white paper puts forth proposals to mobilise capital and scale manufacturing while reinforcing Europe's industrial base. These proposals include: establishing a one-stop-shop investment platform, under the proposed EU Competitiveness Fund, to organise R&D, scale-up and manufacturing funding opportunities from EU institutions and member states to help draw-in private and institutional investors to support innovative aviation projects; shifting EU and member state funding toward a performance-based funding module, tied to certification and technological milestones, to create a more meaningful way of measuring progress and support innovation; and establishing an EU sustainable aviation manufacturing initiative to address administrative bottlenecks and promote cross border collaboration would assist in accelerating production capacity.

To support the certification of new innovative products, GAMA's white paper emphasises the need for EASA to use its resources efficiently. Additionally, it stresses the importance of maintaining a predictable flat-fee certification structure for electric and hybrid propulsion systems.

To stimulate early deployment of advanced technologies, GAMA's white paper calls for integrating environmental criteria into Public Service Obligation tenders and directing cohesion policy and EU ETS revenues toward sustainable aviation infrastructure.

GAMA's white paper has the support and input from numerous leading European general aviation manufacturers and innovators across the sustainable aviation ecosystem, including: Ascendance (France), Aura Aero (France), Daher (France), H55 (Switzerland), Safran (France), Pipistrel Aircraft (Slovenia), Vaeridion (Germany), Volocopter (Germany), Vertical Aerospace (United Kingdom), ZeroAvia (United Kingdom), Skyports Infrastructure (United Kingdom), and ERC Systems (Germany). These companies span the spectrum of Europe's innovative landscape, from varying aircraft and propulsion systems to infrastructure.