The ITA and Teruel Airport will create an R&D laboratory at the airport facilities

 This initiative responds to the objectives of increasing collaboration with the Business, Science, and Technology Ecosystem, especially at the regional level.

The ITA and Teruel Airport will have a research and innovation laboratory at the Teruel airport facilities, following the approval of the collaboration protocol by the Governing Council.

The objective is to develop a series of unique and distinctive technological testing and experimentation infrastructures, located at the current facilities of the Teruel Airport Consortium, as well as to participate in regional, national, and international research, development, and innovation (R&D&I) projects related to the decarbonization of air transport and climate neutrality in the aerospace sector. Both institutions express their interest in cooperating with each other to contribute to the best implementation and achievement of their common objectives. In this regard, both the ITA and Teruel Airport will work on topics related to aerospace research and innovation:

• Complement the current offering in the field of R&D&I in Aragon and geared toward the aerospace sector, boosting the regional R&I ecosystem, and in particular that of Teruel, by offering an R&I service geared toward regional companies based on unique technological facilities.

• Act jointly as a focal point for attracting new business and technology investments.

• Jointly prepare expressions of interest for the new Just Transition Fund for the province of Teruel.

• Collaborate in the preparation and presentation of R&I projects linked to climate neutrality and the decarbonization of the aerospace sector, both regionally and nationally and Europeanly. This Collaboration Protocol is expected to benefit regional companies in the aerospace sector and act as a potential focal point for attracting new business investments linked to the decarbonization of air transport and the development of climate-neutral policies in this area.

Climate Neutrality

Achieving climate neutrality by 2050 requires an energy transition from fossil fuel-based systems to clean energy systems, as well as a decarbonization of industry.

Research in these areas has progressed rapidly in recent decades, demonstrating the techno-economic viability of various solutions that promote security of supply, reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions, and boost growth through job creation and industrial development. Even so, more R&D&I is needed to assess resources, improve the energy efficiency of different technologies and processes, and transition to an efficient and clean industry. These challenges are of particular importance to the aerospace sector, as reflected in the Strategic Agenda for Aeronautical Research and Innovation presented in December 2021 by the European Clean Aviation Partnership, made up of the main players in the European aerospace industry, as well as the European Commission itself.

To address these challenges, which require highly accelerated development times, greater network collaboration is needed to build a critical mass of researchers and engineers internationally, as well as a commitment to investment in both the design and development of new technologies and products and in the deployment of an R&D infrastructure to verify these new technologies and products. European and international programs that promote network collaboration to solve upcoming technical challenges are a constant feature in the local development of technological and industrial policies and initiatives. The Teruel Airport Platform (PLATA) and ITA believe that addressing these challenges requires collaborative work to develop a series of unique and distinctive testing and experimentation infrastructures located at Teruel Airport. These infrastructures will also serve as a seedbed for promoting the participation of both entities, as well as other Aragonese stakeholders in the Science, Technology and Business system, in future European and international aerospace R&I programs.

The Just Transition Fund for the province of Teruel (www.ftjteuel.es) also represents a magnificent opportunity and a key instrument for leveraging this potential collaboration between both organizations. The Just Transition Fund for Teruel is presented as a driving force for the economic and social transformation of the province of Teruel. This is a newly created fund that falls under the European Union's Cohesion Policy and aims to support regions facing serious socioeconomic challenges arising from the transition to climate neutrality.

In Aragon, it is managed by the Aragonese Institute for Development as an intermediate organization and has a total budget of more than €88 million. Projects implemented under this framework may extend until 2029, with co-financing of up to 50%.