Airbus, one of the leading planemakers in the world, has shortlisted the five finalist student teams competing in the fifth edition of the Fly Your Ideas challenge.

The radical concepts selected cover a wide range of innovations going from an alternative to satellite imagery, to improved aircraft taxiing, clever ways of boarding, new areas for luggage storage or offering a new business model using existing Airbus aircraft, said a statement from the company.

Representing nine different nationalities and eight universities across Africa, Europe and Asia-Pacific, the five finalist teams embody true diversity, which is a key driver of innovation and performance, it said.

The students, competing for a €30,000 ($31,928) prize, also demonstrate a wide variety of disciplines from natural sciences to engineering and business, it added.

The runner-up team will receive €15,000 ($15,964) at a live event taking place on May 17, in Toulouse, France.

Their inventive ideas were selected from over 350 entries in Airbus’ biennial global student competition, run in partnership with UNESCO. Students’ ideas had to answer one of five challenges identified by Airbus to provide sustainable future solutions. The innovations proposed by the five finalist teams look at alternative business models, passengers’ experience and flight operations, said a statement.

The five finalist teams – from Hong Kong, France, Australia, Nigeria and the UK – will soon travel to Toulouse, France, where they will spend a week at the Airbus ProtoSpace facility to prototype, test and visualise their ideas using state-of-the-art equipment with personal guidance from Airbus.

At the end of their week at Airbus, the students will present their innovative projects and the newly developed prototype in front of Airbus experts and personalities from the aerospace and academic world.

Airbus launched Fly Your Ideas in 2008 with the aim of engaging with universities and students worldwide and from all backgrounds to: stimulate innovative ideas for a sustainable aviation industry and identify opportunities for R&T development and/or interaction with academic research teams. The challenge received UNESCO patronage in 2012 with a renewed partnership in 2014 and 2016, it added. – TradeArabia News Service