Aero 2026, sustainable aviation enters the industrial phase

The point, however, is not just how to fly more efficient or sustainable aircraft, but how to redesign the journey. The real promise of the new aviation is not absolute speed, but reduced door-to-door time. And this is a decisive difference: for decades, aviation sold speed above all; here, it sells accessibility again. And, not of secondary importance: less dependence on the main hubs, more direct access to the territory, smarter use of smaller airports. It is on this ground - even more than on technological innovation alone - that the real industrial game of the coming years will be played.

In this context, the topic is no longer whether batteries and hydrogen will play a role, but when and how much they will be used. Away from the red carpets, in the conference halls, the highest, most strategic and internationally relevant moment of AERO is concentrated: a confrontation between engineers, manufacturers and operators, between the aviation of yesterday, that of today and that which is trying to be born. This is where promises give way to real constraints, and this is where the maturity of the sector is measured.

The Hydrogen & Battery Summit, now in its fourth year with Bosch as main sponsor, has become one of the most important technical events at the show. This is not a detail: it is the sign of a trade fair that, as Bretzel himself claimed, "wants to remain the place where the industry measures not only what it exhibits, but what it is really becoming", not forgetting that he himself launched the world's first conference on electric aviation here in 2009.

The conclusions of this edition, also spread over two days, converge on three points. The first: there is no single technology for the decarbonisation of flight. Batteries, hydrogen and sustainable fuels complement each other, with hydrogen seen by Airbus as a complementary solution, capable of relieving the pressure on SAF and leaving it for long-haul routes, where in the medium term there are no realistic alternatives. The second: contrary to many simplifications already seen in the automotive sector, the real technical bottleneck of electric aviation is not energy itself, but the management of the heat produced by batteries, engines and fuel cells, to be dissipated without penalising weight and aerodynamics. It is one of those passages where the industry's rhetoric finally gives way to physics. And it is here that we understand why many theoretically fascinating projects remain far from the market: it is not enough to generate energy, it must be integrated into a system that remains efficient, light and certifiable. Thirdly, certification remains the decisive gate. A technology only exists industrially when it is approved, and the gap between technical maturity and certification readiness can be measured in years.

At this point, the logic of the market also changes. The solutions most likely to make money first are not the most ambitious ones, but the smaller, simpler ones, closer to a precise mission. It is no coincidence that drones and lightweight battery-powered platforms are already finding economically defensible use cases. The American Electra, with its EL9, is trying to go a step further: not just selling an aeroplane, but a new logic of mobility, what it calls 'Direct Aviation'. The paradigm shift is clear: not to chase maximum cruise speed, but to reduce the real travel time door to door thanks to ultra-short take-offs and landings, access to smaller areas, and direct approach to the destination. At the end of 2025, the company applied for FAA certification for its nine-seater, which aims to redefine a part of light aviation by reducing the operational gap between fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. It is one of the most ambitious programmes in the segment today, lying somewhere between general aviation and new air mobility. It is not just a hypothesis. On 21 April, Electra, Bristow, Avinor and the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority announced the start of a new international test project in Norway, designed precisely to test how ultra-short operations and unconventional access can serve difficult-to-connect regional territories.
If this approach holds up to the test of certification and the market, it will open up a new space with a clear strategic direction: fewer hubs, more direct access and, where possible, greater usability of smaller airports, airfields and, in some cases, even helipads.

Even as the sector continues to reckon with crises, delays and bankruptcies, concrete signs of industrial progress remain visible. This is well demonstrated by Robinson, a world reference brand in civil helicopters, which has chosen a different but far from marginal path: electrifying one of the best sellers in its range, the R66, starting from an existing platform. The eR66 programme, with a roadmap aiming at first flight in 2027 and certification by 2030, signals that for some segments the most pragmatic path remains that of industrial evolution, not total disruption. And it is not insignificant that it is President David Smith who is personally exposing himself: a sign that even the more traditional part of the industry has stopped considering electrics a niche exercise. Not because of an isolated announcement, but because of the accumulation of concrete progress: tests, certifications and real programmes.

Friedrichshafen today is important precisely for this reason: because it shows that the future of flying is no longer just a convention hypothesis. It is an industry still riddled with delays, high costs and technical hurdles, but the industrial direction is beginning to stand out more clearly.