Aeronautics

Guiding concepts

Electric aircraft
The demand for air transport is on the rise. At the same time, there is an ever-increasing call from society at large to significantly reduce the impact of air transport on the environment and climate.
Future transport planes – commercial aircraft
Passenger numbers for global air travel have been rising steadily for many years. The number of passenger kilometres flown worldwide doubles every 15 years.
Efficient air transport
The EU's vision for air transport, Flightpath 2050, sets out clear requirements. In future, 90 percent of all passenger journeys within Europe should take no more than four hours door to door.
Rescue helicopter 2030
Future rescue helicopters are expected to be able to reach their destination quickly, safely, quietly and flexibly – around the clock, regardless of weather conditions and over long distances.
Urban air mobility
Whether in urban or sparsely populated areas, new and highly automated types of aircraft are set to play an ever-increasing role in global passenger and cargo transport over the coming decades.
The virtual product
At present, the development, testing and production of new aircraft designs is associated with such considerable timing and financial risks that a mere setback could threaten the existence of entire companies.

International networks

National and International Networking

DLR aeronautics research is networked at national, European and global levels. Together with government representatives as well as partners from industry and research, and involving extensive cooperation with trade associations and interest groups, DLR is working to help shape the air transport system of the future. It plays a leading role in many areas of aeronautics research, both nationally and internationally.

Research aircraft fleet

In action worldwide – flying for research

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) operates the largest civilian fleet of research aircraft and helicopters in Europe. These highly-modified aircraft are either themselves the subject of aeronautics research or are used to observe the Earth, the ocean surfaces and the atmosphere. The aircraft are stationed at DLR’s sites in Braunschweig and Oberpfaffenhofen. This facility provides scientific services for DLR flight experiments as well as for other national and international institutions, public authorities and industrial customers.

Dossier

The electrification of aviation
Electric flight opens up a new dimension in aviation and offers unprecedented opportunities for sustainable mobility in the future. DLR is one of the pioneers in the field of electric flight. It combines fundamental and application-oriented research in this field in a way that is unique in Europe.

News / Aeronautics

Infrastructure

Large-scale research facilities
The portfolio at DLR currently comprises some 180 large-scale research facilities at 15 locations, including the polar regions. DLR also makes its large-scale facilities available to partners from industry and academia as part of its cooperative research activities.

Jobs / Aeronautics

Management position

Director of the Institute of Combustion Technology

Institute of Combustion Technology, Stuttgart

Publication

Brochure: DLR in facts and figures

3 MB I PDF

Institutes

Low Cost Monitor

Facts / Aeronautics

Institute of System Architectures in Aeronautics: number of employees (2018)

11,24

35
Female

11,24

11
Male

11,24

24

Global air traffic

Aeronautics Research at DLR

Electric aircraft

Future transport planes – commercial aircraft

Efficient air transport

Rescue helicopter 2030

Urban air mobility

The virtual product

National and International Networking

In action worldwide – flying for research

The electrification of aviation

Clouds as a factor influencing the climate – EUREC4A field campaign aims to solve one of the great mysteries of climate science

The biplanes constructed by Lilienthal and the Wright brothers fly together for the first time

The DFG, DLR and the Helmholtz Association enable cutting-edge research for sustainable aviation

National Research Council Canada visits DLR

DLRmagazine 163 – Metropolitan transformer

Electric aircraft – novel configurations open up new possibilities

Super-efficient wings take off

Decline in low-cost flights despite a record number of routes in summer 2019

DLR and FAA are cooperating for the integration of commercial spaceflight into the air transport system

Sensors replace pilots

DLRmagazine 162 – Sharing the sky

Declining numbers of flights in Germany and subdued growth worldwide until the end of 2019

European research for more punctual and efficient airport operations

DLR employee successfully flies a replica of Otto Lilienthal's aircraft

Technologies for crisis management in the event of a disaster

Investigating the ozone hole, Amazon fires and gravity waves with the German HALO research aircraft

Optimisation of approach procedures to lessen noise and reduce fuel consumption at Zurich Airport

German aerospace research at MAKS in Moscow

Research into climate-neutral air transport

DLR jury selects the winning German team for this year's NASA/DLR Design Challenge

Large-scale research facilities

Director of the Institute of Combustion Technology

Brochure: DLR in facts and figures

Institute of Aeroelasticity

Institute of Flight Systems

Institute of Flight Guidance

Institute of Propulsion Technology

Institute of Structures and Design

Flight Experiments facility

Institute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems

Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology

Institute of Air Transport and Airport Research

Institute of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul

Institute of Air Transportation Systems

Institute of Atmospheric Physics

Institute of Software Methods for Product Virtualization

Institute of System Architectures in Aeronautics

Institute of System Dynamics and Control

Institute of Technical Physics

Institute of Test and Simulation for Gas Turbines

Institute of Combustion Technology

Institute of Materials Research

Low-cost airlines see widespread growth and a slight rise in prices in summer 2018

Record number of flights and moderate price rises following Air Berlin insolvency

Rapid expansion of low-cost airlines

DLR study on low cost airlines: record supply, rising competition and falling prices

Trend check for low-cost airlines – the long-haul business is taking off

Institute of System Architectures in Aeronautics: number of employees (2018)

Main menu

Pascale Ehrenfreund takes office as President of the IAF

Space – accessibility, diplomacy and cooperation

Research into climate-neutral air transport

Light-dark shadows in the Martian highlands

The DLR delegation during a visit to the JAXA Tsukuba Space Centre on 31 July 2019

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and DLR welcome European policy-makers to Brussels

DLR strengthens Germany as a technology location with seven new institutes

DLR and ONERA – joint research into AI for the aerospace sector

A rover for Phobos and Deimos

eROSITA – the hunt for Dark Energy begins

DLR at the Paris Air Show 2019

We are DLR!

Global Conference on Space in Emerging Countries

The DLR Center for Lightweight-Production-Technology celebrates 10 years of research

EU Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska visits DLR

New test stand for Ariane 6 upper stage at DLR Lampoldshausen

DLR in 2019 – Research for the Energy Transition, environment-friendly aviation and a greater understanding of the Universe

High-tech support for humanitarian aid

Consul General of India Sugandh Rajaram visits DLR

Farewell to 2018 - A successful DLR year comes to an end