MTU Aero Engines is contributing to sustainable aviation for tomorrow and beyond with its innovative concepts, deep commitment and a clear vision: emission-free flying.

“We are investing in the development of new and alternative propulsion technologies to achieve this significant target. Our Clean Air Engine Agenda (Claire) sets a concrete path to zero-emission flying and includes possible solutions and potentials for sustainable engines,” says Lars Wagner, CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) of MTU Aero Engines AG. MTU is actively driving change: focusing on the evolutionary development of the gas turbine based on the highly-efficient geared turbofan (GTF), as well as on revolutionary propulsion concepts such as the water-enhanced turbofan (WET) or the flying fuel cell (FFC).

MTU published its Sustainability Report for the financial year 2022 at the company’s Annual General Meeting on May 11. At https://sustainability.mtu.de, MTU provides information on its goals, progress and achievements in the six fields of action covered by its sustainability strategy. In addition to products, production and maintenance, the six categories include corporate governance, employees, procurement and society. Diversity is another focus topic in the report. “Transforming Aviation is more than just a slogan. It is part of our DNA and is derived from MTU’s corporate mission statement,” says CSO Wagner. ‘We are shaping the future of aviation’ is MTU’s overarching vision.

Climate protection is also a key concern for operations at MTU’s facilities. The company’s ecoRoadmap climate protection strategy is designed to make production and maintenance more sustainable in this regard. Since its launch at the Munich site in 2021, MTU has extended the ecoRoadmap to other production sites within the MTU network. In 2022, this initiative was known as ‘MTU Green Europe’ and saw all European production sites actively contributing to the common goal of 60 % lower CO₂ emissions by 2030. This year, the new repair facility in Serbia and MTU Maintenance Canada will follow suit as the initiative becomes ‘MTU Green Global’. Sustainable energy-saving measures, the increased use of green energy and the expansion of the company’s own emission-free power generation make up the core of these endeavors. To this end, the company intends to use geothermal energy instead of gas as an energy source at its Munich site and began exploratory drilling on its premises in 2022. The long-term goal is to achieve climate neutrality across all sites (Scope 1 & 2) by 2045.