Avionics partnership for decarbonised regional aviation

Feb 15,2023

Aura Aero, a pioneer in decarbonised aviation, has signed an agreement with Thales, the embedded avionic systems specialist, to jointly develop a new generation connected avionics solution, adapted to electric and hybrid regional aviation.

Currently, most regional aircraft use fossil fuel energy but in the face of climate change challenges, there is a strong movement of innovation in the electric and hybrid aircraft field.

The level of innovation introduced by these new aircraft is not only about their new propulsion modes. It is part of an overall appraoch that has already been adopted by other industries like the automotive industry, aimed at taking advantage of a greater balance between material, software, connectivity and services. This approach will help adapt the operations of these new aircraft to their environment through their lifecycle, by maintaining their operational capacity at the highest levels.

Future connected avionics will be a strong contributor to the reduction of the environmental footprint, offering in particular hybridisation management and real-time trajectory optimisation. They will also make viable new operational modes, where regional aircraft, that can be operated by a single pilot, will perform point to point flights towards secondary airports.

Thales says it is committed to the development of tactical and connected avionics solutions that will revolutionise the flight experience by giving the pilot quicker and more intuitive access to information, for easier decision-making.

Aura Aero, initiator of the ERA (Electric Regional Aircraft) project, the first European 19-seater hybrid-electric propulsion regional transport aircraft, and Thales have decided to work together on the development of a global avionics suite specifically adapted for ERA, including a cockpit solution, a secure land-air connectivity solution and a digital platform.

Jérémy Caussade, co-founder and president of Aura Aero, commented: “We are very happy to be able to establish this partnership with Thales, since the development of decarbonised aviation is not limited to propulsion systems. It also requires many other innovations including the avionics. This objective is a first step and I have no doubt that these innovations will find other applications. By combining the best digital technologies with our experience as a manufacturer, we want to pass a new milestone in the energy transition of aviation.”

Jean-Paul Ebanga, VP flight avionics at Thales, added: “The FlytX cockpit system is the ideal solution to support the revolution of uses proposed by Aura Aero. We are happy to participate in the ERA project, a project that takes advantage of the technological investments which we have made and contributes to paving the way towards safe and sustainable electric regional aviation.”

Under this background, the 12th Annual Avionics International Forum 2023 will be held in June 7th to 8th, 2023 .

Click here to register your interest!