What is ACARE?

ACARE is the Advisory Council for Aviation Research and innovation in Europe and provides a network for strategic research in aeronautics and air transport so that aviation satisfies the needs of society and secures global leadership for Europe in this important sector.

ACARE is essential in bringing together the right stakeholders to turn the air transport vision in Europe into reality.

ACARE has been in existence since 2001 and comprises European public and private stakeholders who collaborate on a common purpose to develop challenging improvements for aeronautics and air transport in Europe.

ACARE maintains a governance structure to develop and review strategic options, priorities and objectives through a General Assembly and Strategy and Integration Board.
Supporting groups provide forums to review implementation, infrastructure and communication needs on a regular basis.

Since Aviation is seen as one of the top five advanced technology sectors in Europe, ACARE has developed an ambitious roadmap outlining strategic directions that should be taken to enable Europe to remain a global leader in this field as well as provide an air transport system that satisfies society and environmental needs.

Targets have been set on aspects covering five goals.

A comprehensive list of objectives and targets is available on this website.

As in the past, European and National research programmes have been implemented by ACARE stakeholders with the aim of contributing to the achievement of the objectives laid down in the previous SRA.

European and National Programs including large scale initiatives such as Clean Sky 2 and SESAR will help achieve the ACARE objectives.

SRIA is a crucial tool in enabling the right Research & Innovation to be undertaken to deliver the vision of Flightpath 2050.

ACARE launched two initiatives in 2008 to assess the progress made so far:

1. AGAPE (ACARE Goals And Progress Evaluation): evaluated the progress made towards the previous ACARE goals, to re-assess priorities in support of the new Flightpath 2050 vision

2. MEFISTO (Methodology for Framework Programmes’ impact assessment in transport): provided a methodology for assessing the impact of the Framework Programmes 5 and 6 in transport

It is clear that significant progress has been made and the key conclusions from these initiatives are available on this website.

Further progress will be monitored through several Coordination and Support Actions (CSAs) projects financed under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme.

Flightpath 2050 takes the work undertaken by ACARE beyond 2020 and on to 2050. It recognises the importance of providing a network for strategic research in aeronautics and air transport with the aim of satisfying the needs of society as well as securing global leadership for Europe in this important sector.

The aviation sector has a strong track record on innovation. Since the first jet airliners of some 50 years ago, on a passenger per kilometre basis, aircraft burn 70% less fuel, are 75% quieter and smoke and smell have been virtually eliminated. This would not have been possible without significant research efforts.

ACARE set some very challenging goals to achieve by 2020 relative to the year 2000. Flightpath 2050 will enable this effort to continue beyond 2020. The goals will be met by developing future Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas (SRIA) in response to the new vision declared by the High Level Group which was convened by the European Commission.

Flightpath 2050 continues the work that ACARE has been doing since 2001 beyond 2020 to 2050. A long term commitment to research and innovation in aeronautics and air transport is essential in making sure that the sector continues its important work to deliver solutions that society will need in the future.

There are many examples showing how ACARE has successfully delivered significant technology improvements over the last decade (see ACARE Success Stories) and it is really important that this effort is continued with much needed support from the European Commission and the other stakeholders involved.

The Flightpath 2050 goal to reduce CO2 emissions by 75% per passenger kilometre by 2050 will form a significant contribution towards the global aviation sector (comprising ACI, CANSO, IATA, ICCAIA and IBAC) goals which state that from 2020, net carbon emissions from aviation will be capped through carbon neutral growth and by 2050 net aviation carbon emissions will be half of what they were in 2005.

The more we can reduce carbon emissions through the development and deployment of advanced and more efficient technology, the less impact aviation will have on the environment.

Improvements in operational practices, infrastructure and future developments of sustainable and commercially viable alternative fuels will add to this contribution.

The direct way of participating is through your membership as one of the many institutions that comprise ACARE – please refer to the stakeholders list.

Participation to ACARE can be done through the General Assembly or Supporting Groups that constitute the “European Expert Platform”. Your organization must be located in a country who is part of the European Union or a country within European Continent which is associated to European regulations for research funding.

For more details on how to get involved please refer to the contacts.