In the wake of the launch of the civil aviation research programme LuFo Climate VII-1 and the re- announcement of the aviation development loan programme LED, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action has reorganised two key funding programmes for the German aviation industry to enable it to meet the challenges of the coming decade.

Dr Anna Christmann MdB, Federal Government Coordinator for German Aerospace Policy, said: The Federal Government has set itself the goal of ensuring that Germany’s aviation industry remains internationally competitive and of making a substantial contribution to the decarbonisation of the sector based on high-tech made in Germany. Our aviation research programme LuFo VII-1 and the aviation development loan programme LED are now providing the technological basis to make our aviation industry fit for the future and for the next generation of aircraft. We have put the focus on promoting particularly those technologies that will allow Germany to take a leading role in environmental and climate protection and ensure that it continues to be successful worldwide.
The LuFo Climate VII-1 funding call was launched on 19 April, marking the start of the new LuFo programme phase VII which includes a total of three funding calls for innovative technology projects in Germany until 2030. The current budget for the Lufo Climate programme is 300 million euros per year, making it the central funding programme for industry-led civil research and development projects in Germany.

Compared to previous funding periods, LuFo VII again places a strong focus on reducing the overall energy demand and the environmental impact of aviation as well as on reducing non-carbon effects. This also includes the development of highly efficient and high-volume production technologies as the foundation for the economic success of German companies as they build future generations of aircraft. The process of recording and tracking the carbon reduction potential of the funded projects, which began in 2020, will be consistently continued for the entire duration of LuFo VII.

In order to accelerate disruptive drive technologies and concepts based on green hydrogen, the UpLift H2 Aviation funding priority in LuFo VII is also being expanded once again. UpLift H2 Aviation gives interested companies that do not have the opportunity to conduct their own ground and flight tests – especially SMEs and start-ups – the opportunity to test promising H2 technologies on the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) public ground test benches and test aircraft in a realistic environment at an early stage.

Former Aircraft Equipment Supplier Programme now turned into Aviation Development Loan Programme LED

As a second key funding instrument for the aviation industry, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action adjusted and renamed the Aircraft Equipment Supplier Programme and published it as Aviation Development Loan Programme LED on 25 April. This programme has a new focus and serves to provide large, conditionally and unconditionally repayable loans. In this way, the LED creates supplementary financing options for close-to-market development projects, which are not available at appropriate conditions through conventional bank loans due to the special development, market and programme risks associated with the aviation industry.

The previous restriction to projects in the equipment industry no longer applies with immediate effect. In future, the LED will therefore be aimed at all commercial aviation companies that use innovative technologies to drive the transformation process towards climate-neutral, environmentally friendly, noise-minimised, more efficient, safer and more passenger-friendly aviation.

For the new programming period until 2028, the LED has a loan budget of 300 million euros. Expressions of interest can be submitted to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action for the entire duration of the programme without a deadline.

Further information on the funding programmes can be found by clicking on the following links: Interested parties can submit their project outlines for the LuFo Climate VII-1 funding call until 26 June 2024. You can find the funding announcement here and here.

Further information on UpLift H2 Aviation can be found at https://www.uplift-h2-aviation.de/

For the funding announcement of the LED, please click here: hier.