Hessen is home to a large number of companies, research facilities and institutions that are active in the aviation industry and in aviation technology. The ideal network for Hessian players in the aviation industry is the Hessen Aviation cluster initiative, funded by the state of Hesse and based in the House of Logistics and Mobility (HOLM) in the immediate vicinity of Frankfurt Airport.

Hessen Aviation supports Hessian companies with its activities and pools expert knowledge at HOLM. We connect the economic players with each other, but we connect them with science and society in particular. This exchange is facilitated by events and projects as well as by the players’ spatial proximity to each other. This is how new partnerships and joint projects are launched and actively promoted.

Hessen Aviation runs its own space at HOLM with the Future Aviation Lab for this purpose. The multifunctional space was opened in November 2022 and is available to the network for exchange and dialogue, for joint project work and for events and workshops. Sponsors of Future Aviation Labs include: Hessen Trade & Invest (HTAI) GmbH and Technologieland Hessen.

The Aviation Next Generation field of action plays a key role in the content of the cluster’s work. The research topics contained within it form the basis for developing innovative and sustainable solutions: Passenger Experience, Sustainable Aviation, Digitalisation of the Air Transport Chain, Green and Smart Airports, Urban Air Mobility, Aviation Security and Supply Chain Excellence.

Hessen Aviation’s activities can be grouped into three categories:

• Networking and knowledge transfer

  – In our network, start-ups meet corporations and research facilities meet medium-sized companies
  – Hessen Aviation is part of HOLM’s organisation and infrastructure: meaning that cluster partners can easily use event spaces at an extremely attractive location
  – Members can take part in various event and networking formats that enable topic-related, interdisciplinary dialogue on selected key topics in aviation and aviation technology – Hessen Aviation works closely with established regional aviation technology networks, above all with the Competence Center Aerospace (CCA) in Kassel, with which Hessen Aviation forms a joint Hessian voice
  – We also work with aviation clusters and initiatives in other federal states as part of the Initiative Supply Chain Excellence and the German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI) Regional Forum
  – Hessen Aviation works closely with Hessen Logistics and Hessen Mobility clusters, for instance, to organise joint Cluster@HOLM events

• Marketing and public relations work

  – Hessen Aviation organises joint booths in Hessen and enables its partners to concentrate on their core business at trade fairs: making valuable business contacts and concluding business deals
  – Members of Hessen Aviation benefit from exclusive terms
  – Hessen Aviation has been a regular guest at the Innovation and Leadership in Aerospace (ILA), one of the world’s most important trade fairs for the aerospace industry, since 2014

• Project initiation

  – Advisory services within the scope of promoting innovation at HOLM
  – Support with the search for cooperation partners and project ideas within the Hessen Aviation and HOLM GmbH network