GKN aerospace is taking strides to put sustainability at the heart of its operation, said Ben Davies, the company’s head of industrialisation, AAM, at Sustainable Skies World Summit [SSWS] 2023.

Speaking to FINN, he said: “GKN aerospace has taken a real shift to focus on sustainability as a key theme. Our mission is to be the most trusted and sustainable partner in the sky which we’re working towards.

“So [sustainability] plays a huge part in what we’re trying to do differently from a more traditional engineering company, which we are focused on technology, but now this technology is taking a new path into being as sustainable as we possibly can in a number of different ways.”

AAM sector

Commenting on the AAM sector, he said: “We’re doing a lot of work with a lot of the current OEMs that are moving into this space, with a challenge to achieve battery-powered flight. They lean on us for a lot of our skills and expertise as an engineer business and a technology business and the way we do things in terms of certification, and all our rules and accreditations.

“We can certainly give our expertise and certainly the right direction and support the EASAs and the CAAs and FAAs to get to those accreditations and certifications.”

GKN is also concentrating on alternative propulsion technologies, such as hydrogen. Davies added: “It’s really strong pitch from us in terms of being [at SSWS] and promoting our hydrogen work, in terms of fuel cell development. We really believe that has got a lot of potential for a future solution. There’s not a one size that fits all. So we’re working on the AAM, electric powered aircraft and hydrogen is probably going to take the next step for us for the longer term future.”
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