What will be the policy and regulatory impacts of new aviation technologies?

The Occasion

The aviation industry is facing a technological revolution, with innovations promising to improve environmental sustainability, airspace management, customer experience, and the advent of new aviation modalities such as drones. Following the publication of a new report on these issues (d0wnload from this link), the ITC held a Discussion webinar on 3rd March 2026 to explore how policy makers and regulators should react to these technological innovations.

After a brief presentation on the report by author Chris Cain from Northpoint Aviation, the ITC was delighted to welcome a panel of experts including: John Strickland, Visiting Fellow at Cranfield University; Dr Mark Bentall, Head of Research and Technology at Airbus; and Sophie Lane, Chief Relationships Officer at the Aviation Technology Institute. A discussion followed with our expert audience chaired by Dr Stephen Hickey: the chair of the ITC’s aviation research group.

Summary

What will be the policy impacts of new aviation technologies? Key issues raised by the expert panel:

  • John Strickland explained the opportunities that new technologies provided. He noted that new aircraft technologies provided solutions that were far ahead of existing Air Traffic Control systems. An upgrade to new systems would provide huge advantages for the industry in terms of more effective use of airspace and reducing congestion. He noted the challenge of providing sufficient capacity to meet rising aviation demand was both a national and regional issue. In terms of aviation sustainability, he observed that policies placed great faith in the increased use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), but these fuels were currently very expensive and there remained serious challenges to scaling up production to the level where it was needed. At the same time, upgrades to aircraft designs and technologies had made new aircraft much more efficient in terms of fuel use than older aircraft.
  • Mark Bentall discussed the approach manufacturers take toward new technologies. He explained that a new international standard was needed for drop-in SAF to go beyond a 50% blend in aircraft. This is because different forms of SAF exhibit different properties, requiring additives to achieve drop-in engine and aircraft compatibility. He advised that the UK was physically well-positioned to develop operational solutions to mitigate aircraft contrails which have a significant environmental effect. Regarding hydrogen fuels, he noted that these would require a complete change in propulsion systems, aircraft design and the airport infrastructure needed for refuelling. This complex evolution would require regulatory changes. As a result, SAF is the current priority while technology and infrastructure developments in hydrogen fuels mature. On the other hand, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will significantly impact the near future, including improving customer service and assisting pilots with improved safety features.
  • Sophie Lane highlighted the need for policy makers and regulators to adapt to new technologies. She suggested that aviation sustainability was linked to economic growth. To encourage the decarbonisation of aviation, measures had to be commercially sustainable. It was important, therefore, that policy makers and regulators took steps to ensure that beneficial new technologies were not made economically unviable. They should also consider pursuing objectives that support the UK’s competitive advantage in the aviation sector. A successful approach, she suggested, would require cross-sector and cross-departmental collaboration in order to ensure that policy and regulatory measures had the desired impact. A national aviation strategy was helpful, but there was also a need for many individual industrial strategies to support innovation, and it would be important to keep consumers and the flying public onboard with any technological developments.

The expert panel included John Strickland (L), Dr Mark Bentall (C) and Sophie Lane (R)

 

Key themes raised in the Q&A discussion:

  1. Measures should be taken to make SAF more commercially feasible. Delegates agreed that SAF was the primary pathway to improving the sustainability of aviation in the short-to-medium term, since it is compatible with existing commercial aircraft. However, much work still needs to be done in terms of scaling up production in order to reduce the costs of SAF and make it more commercially viable for airlines. A further challenge is to ensure sufficient volume and supply of SAF, without which it will be difficult for airlines to meet Government targets for the transition to sustainable fuels.
  2. Regional connectivity could be improved through sustainable aviation tech. Some attendees pointed out that opportunities exist for regional connectivity to be improved through the development of new aviation technologies. New forms of low-carbon propulsion, such as battery or hydrogen-powered craft would initially be feasible only for short-haul flights. To encourage low-carbon flight, Governments could make it compulsory for short-haul flights to use low-carbon aircraft, the use of which would help to serve regional airports and locations which currently lacked good connectivity. Great opportunities also exist to provide improved services to rural or remote areas using low-carbon flight.
  3. Hydrogen-powered commercial flights are still some way off. A discussion arose about the likely timescales for developing hydrogen-powered commercial flights, which were seen by some as offering promise for low-carbon aviation. It was pointed out that it would take decades to bring into service hydrogen-compatible aircraft, and this did not take into account the need to resolve major challenges in terms of production and supply. New infrastructure would be required to transport and store hydrogen at airports, and there is also some way to go before H2 can be supplied at scale. As a result, there was scepticism about whether hydrogen flights would be commercially viable before the later decades of the century.
  4. UAVs present challenges for urban areas. Urban air mobility is a growing interest for aircraft manufacturers, but payload capacity is not yet sufficient to make this commercially viable. However, some believed that it was likely UAVs would proliferate in due course, and questioned what challenges this posed for urban areas. It was noted that aerial congestion and safety remains a huge concern for the public, as do privacy concerns driven by a proliferation of drones. Many agreed that it was essential that public acceptability is taken into account with such new technologies if they are not to face significant policy opposition.
  5. Co-ordination is as important as strategy for supporting new aviation technologies. A number of attendees asked whether a national strategy was required to support new aviation technologies. The panel noted that the UK already had in place a good strategic framework and the Jet Zero taskforce had made strong progress in identifying priority challenges for policy makers. Some suggested that better co-ordination between different stakeholders and sectors is a more urgent need, since this would help to facilitate faster adoption of new tech.