New sustainable air transport centre planned for Duxford Airfield
Imperial War Museums (IWM) and Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, are to develop a major new centre for the next generation of sustainable air transport at IWM Duxford.…
June 28, 2024
Imperial War Museums (IWM) and Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, are to develop a major new centre for the next generation of sustainable air transport at IWM Duxford.
The new Duxford AvTech centre will be a 45,000 square metre development on land adjacent to the existing IWM site with space for a new advanced technology aviation innovation cluster focusing on low and zero carbon advanced air mobility (AAM) technologies.
It is hoped the new site will become the UK’s new home for the research and development, prototype testing, certification and manufacture of new low and zero carbon aircraft technology.
It will include the development of electric, hydrogen and hybrid powered aircraft, alternative power sources, new material and associated technologies and services to shape the next generation of air transport.
The focus will be on small, short distance transport for cargo, as well as small passenger transport aircraft and non-commercial passenger transport while IWM Duxford will remain an airfield with no plans to become a commercial passenger or cargo airport.
Robert Gardiner, senior bursar at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, said: “Duxford AvTech is an exciting partnership with Imperial War Museums for facilities with a focus on research and innovation to develop the UK’s presence in sustainable aviation.
“With centuries of both a presence in Duxford and of nurturing leaders and cutting-edge research within the university, the college is proud to support delivery of the next generation of aviation technology.”
Professor Rob Miller, a fellow of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, and director of the Whittle Laboratory at the University of Cambridge added: “Achieving an aviation sector with no climate impact is one of society’s biggest challenges.
“Solving it will require a complex combination of technology, business and policy. Duxford AvTech and its close proximity to the research taking place at the Whittle Laboratory in Cambridge offers an exceptional opportunity to bring together the best minds and skills to meet these challenges.”
Imperial War Museums director-general Caro Howell said the new aviation centre will draw on Duxford’s history as a pioneering place for aviation research.
She said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Gonville and Caius College on Duxford AvTech.
“Throughout the First and Second World Wars, Duxford was a centre for aviation, embracing pioneering developments in technology and research, and in 1938 Duxford’s Number 19 Squadron was the first RAF squadron to re-equip with the new Supermarine Spitfire.
“Through Duxford AvTech, this tradition will be embraced once again as we aim to create an internationally recognised centre of excellence for the research and manufacture of new, low carbon aviation technologies.”
