Since the 1970s, business aviation has been a pioneer in the deployment of efficient technological innovations that are then adopted by commercial aviation, with some well-known examples – winglets, composite materials, heads-up displays, etc. – having since become industry standards.
This pioneering trend in innovation can already be seen in the ongoing process of decarbonisation in the aviation sector, where business aviation is already one of the leading consumers of CAD or air friction reduction with the AeroShark technique, which mimics shark skin, all in often recent fleets that offer optimised performance.
Following the same logic, it seems certain that future engines (electric, hydrogen) will initially target business customers before being adopted by large aircraft.
There is no doubt that Switzerland, as a major hub for business aviation in Europe and for the development of these innovations, will be the first to see these advances. In these new technologies for greener aviation, Switzerland occupies a central position, based as much on its technical tradition as on the excellence of its academic and professional fabric.
Looking at the various stages planned by the industry and approved by the Federal Council, we can mention companies such as Synthelion (Lugano) and Metafuels (Zurich) in the field of synthetic fuels, or the start-up Destinus, based at the Payerne aerotropolis, which is planning a hydrogen-powered long-haul aircraft for 2030. In terms of electric propulsion, the manufacturer H55 (Sion), a spin-off from Solar Impulse, is already producing fully electric aircraft, adding to a global landscape already dense with innovations in the testing and deployment phase, such as Vertical Aerospace, Pippistrel, ZeroAvia, Volocopter and Lilium.
To move these projects forward, it is important to be able to count on the support of the authorities for these innovations, as well as for the sector that will be their first customers, business aviation. In this sense, the Confederation’s role in the importance of new technologies was already enshrined in the current Aviation Act, in Article 103b. This current and future importance was reaffirmed in 2016 in the LUPO report (2016), which states that these Swiss innovations ‘play a leading role internationally […] create skilled jobs and have great economic potential’ and that it is ‘in the Confederation’s interest to further develop this potential’.
While business aviation is recognised as a pioneer in the large-scale implementation of new technologies, and net-zero aviation targets require rapid change, it is essential that Swiss business aviation can continue to operate smoothly and allow its users to benefit from ongoing progress.