Ryanair has teamed up with Trinity College, Dublin to launch a research centre focused on making aviation environmentally and economically sustainable. The Ryanair Sustainable Aviation Research Centre, which Ryanair has described as the “first of its kind in Ireland,” has been created courtesy of a €1.5m donation by the airline that will be used to seed a multi-disciplinary research team to engage in best-in-class research around sustainable aviation fuels, zero carbon aircraft propulsion systems and noise mapping. The centre will employ six people and will start operations sometime this summer.
Ryanair’s Director of Sustainability, Thomas Fowler, said: “This €1.5m donation by Ryanair to help open Ireland’s first Sustainable Aviation Research Centre is a hugely exciting project and an important pillar of our environmental targets, supporting our goal to power 12.5 per cent of flights with sustainable aviation fuels by 2030. As Europe’s largest airline, we have a responsibility to minimise our impact on the environment, to make flying greener and lead our industry towards a more sustainable way of flying while keeping our fares low and affordable for all EU families.”
Dr Patrick Prendergast, Provost of Trinity College Dublin, said: “The critical need for humanity to meet the great challenge of our time – climate change – demands new thinking on every front. Science and technological research have a vital role to play in finding balanced solutions for a better world and E3 is Trinity’s farsighted response to this demand. Using emerging technologies, our multi-disciplinary teams of scientists and engineers in Trinity’s new Sustainable Aviation Research Centre will tackle important questions such as how to reduce aircraft emissions with sustainable aviation fuels, electric propulsion, and reduced noise and we are delighted to welcome Ryanair, which has committed itself to being Europe’s cleanest and greenest airline, on board as we explore these exciting new horizons.”
