Airbus inaugurates SAF research facility at GSV university in Gujrat, India

Airbus inaugurated a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for aerospace studies at the India’s central university for transportation and logistics Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) in Vadodara, Gujarat.

The centre’s key focus area would be research and development into sustainable aviation fuel and supporting student-led innovations in future aerospace technologies.

“This centre is a clear demonstration of Airbus’ commitment to R&D and innovation, focusing on ground breaking technologies such as transforming municipal solid waste (MSW) into SAF,” said Jürgen Westermeier, president and managing director, Airbus India and South Asia.

“Airbus has been the foremost leader to set up one of its kind Industry-Academia partnership with GSV which has now become a template for the country,” said Professor Manoj Choudhary, vice chancellor of GSV.

Since 2024, Airbus and GSV have established a partnership aimed at maturing the building blocks of an integrated aerospace ecosystem in India.

This collaboration includes a significant commitment to human capital development through a full scholarship programme for 45 meritorious and underprivileged students, with one-third of these scholarships reserved for women.

Additionally, the partnership has expanded into high-impact research with a Joint Study Agreement to develop sustainable aviation solutions.

This initiative provides grants for R&D focused on converting MSW into SAF, leveraging GSV’s research capabilities and Airbus’ industrial expertise to create a locally sourced, circular economy for aviation fuel in India.