Ryanair Supports Aviation Research

Ryanair has extended its partnership with Trinity College Dublin out to the end of the decade as the airline makes a further €2.5m donation (€4m total) to fund the Ryanair Sustainable Aviation Research Centre.

Underpinned by an initial €1.5m donation from Ryanair, research at the Ryanair Sustainable Aviation Research Centre started in Sept 2021, addressing the complex challenge of progressing sustainable aviation. With Ryanair’s extended funding, the multi-disciplinary research team will continue to focus on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and zero carbon aircraft propulsion systems, as well as expanding the scope of the research to examine aviation’s non-CO2 emissions.

Over the past three years, the Ryanair Sustainable Aviation Research Centre has made significant research developments in the following core areas:

• Examining the sustainability of different SAF types
• Reducing the cost to certify new SAF candidates
• Evaluating the operating impact of zero carbon aircraft propulsion and noise mapping

Results of this research, which have been presented at the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, show that the emission intensity of a passenger travelling on a Boeing 737-800 NG flight from Amsterdam to Dublin can be reduced by 43% by using a 50% SAF blend. This could be further reduced by using Ryanair’s "Gamechanger" Boeing 737-8200, which is 16% more fuel efficient than the 737-800 NG.

Ryanair’s Director of Sustainability, Thomas Fowler, said: 

"Progressing towards our ambitious sustainability goals of Net Zero by 2050 and 12.5% SAF by 2030 will not be possible without continued support for the best-in-class research that is being done by the Ryanair Sustainable Aviation Research Centre at Trinity College Dublin. Expanding out the research to better understand the non-CO2 impacts from aviation is an important next step to lead our industry towards more sustainable aviation."